This is, scientifically, the worst song in the world
“In 1994, Russian conceptual artists Vitaly Komar and Alex Melamid hired market research firms to poll citizens of several countries to determine the most desired and unwanted attributes for paintings. Once statistically informed, Komar and Melamid produced the works favored by a majority in each country. The results are hilarious…
In collaboration with Komar and Melamid, composer Dave Soldier extended the project to the musical realm in 1997. Soldier polled over 500 people to determine the characteristics of the “most unwanted music.” His findings:
The most unwanted music is over 25 minutes long, veers wildly between loud and quiet sections, between fast and slow tempos, and features timbres of extremely high and low pitch, with each dichotomy presented in abrupt transition. The most unwanted orchestra was determined to be large, and features the accordion and bagpipe (which tie at 13% as the most unwanted instrument), banjo, flute, tuba, harp, organ, synthesizer (the only instrument that appears in both the most wanted and most unwanted ensembles). An operatic soprano raps and sings atonal music, advertising jingles, political slogans, and “elevator” music, and a children’s choir sings jingles and holiday songs. The most unwanted subjects for lyrics are cowboys and holidays, and the most unwanted listening circumstances are involuntary exposure to commercials and elevator music. Therefore, it can be shown that if there is no covariance–someone who dislikes bagpipes is as likely to hate elevator music as someone who despises the organ, for example–fewer than 200 individuals of the world’s total population would enjoy this piece.”