Your local supermarket can influence what type of wine you buy on the basis of the background music it plays, according to research. And an extensive analysis of the lyrics of popular music has made connections between the type of words used and their influence on changes in society, for example, the number of church weddings, army recruitment and even gross domestic product.
Dr David North of the University of Leicester, in a presentation during the final day of the Festival of Science, described his analysis of the lyrics for every Top 5 single in the UK from 1960 to 1998.
About 1,400 song lyrics were examined by computers which scanned for particular categories of words in 31 distinct areas. For example, it might register words such as "sad" or "unhappy" in the pessimistic category or "happy", "bright" and "positive" in the optimistic category.
These counts were then mapped and matched up against a large number of societal conditions, for example, GDP, the number of church weddings, army enlistment, number of births or deaths, incidence of suicide, crime rates and so on.
In particular the researchers were testing the hypothesis that certain music such as country and western, heavy metal or sad songs might contribute to teenage suicide. There had been conflicting results from other studies, he said, some supporting and some ruling out the hypothesis.
The data showed a period of pessimism in songs from 1979 through 1981, but no link with suicide rates could be established. "As lyrics get more pessimistic that does not link to rates of suicide," he said.
More work was needed, however. "There is evidence both ways," he said. He doubted that censorship or other controls should be imposed on popular music but added that vigilance was needed.
Prof David Hargreaves of the University of Surrey said shoppers might not even be conscious of the shop music playing in the background, but it was selected very carefully.
He outlined a wide range of studies which assessed the best kind of music to play in a bank, supermarket, restaurant or gym. The music was selected on the basis of how it influenced those listening. The object, he said, was to avoid it being either too boring or too arousing. "What the appropriate level is might depend on the situation," he said.
One study showed how customers tended to pick up French wine to the strains of a Parisian accordion, and German wine when an oom-pah-pah brass band tooted from speakers.
He cited another study that showed that the speed which people went about shopping, eating or drinking was directly linked to the speed of the music.
Even the music played over the telephone while on hold had been analysed, Prof Hargreaves said. Despite claims that people hated the sounds of an electronic Greensleeves, people preferred to hear something rather than nothing.
"Our study showed clearly that people held on the phone longer when there was music compared to no music," he said.
The researchers found that pan pipes was the single most popular sound, particularly if they were playing old Beatles tunes. People tended to hang up more quickly if the original numbers were played compared to the pan pipes versions.