Abstract
Music can affect the behavior and emotion of children and adolescents. We conducted a content and trend analysis of Billboard’s top 10 songs, 1999-2018, with particular attention to adult and positive themes. There was a total of 3633 total references, 3298 (90.8%) adult themes, and 335 (9.2%) positive themes. The most common adult themes were “sexually suggestive lyrics” (32.2%), “sexually suggestive dancing” (15.6%), “use of swear words” (13.7%), “alcohol use” (4.7%), and “use of guns/deadly weapons” (4.7%). The most common positive theme was “empowerment” (62.3%). There were greater references per minute for adult themes (4.8 vs. 3.7 references per minute) and positive themes (0.6 vs. 0.3 references per minute) in the 2009-2018 study period as compared with the 1999-2008 study period. We encourage pediatric healthcare providers to be active participants in the promotion of media education, and we encourage parents to be mindful of the level of media exposure.
Highlights
Music is an important aspect in the socialization of children and adolescents, often providing entertainment, frameworks for self-identity and the acquisition of morals, distraction from stressors, simple cures for boredom or loneliness, and structure for the development of relationships [1,2,3,4].Review began 10/18/2020 Review ended 10/20/2020 Published 10/28/2020Studies have shown that children and adolescents listen to music an average of 40 hours per week and anywhere from one to 6.8 hours per day [5,6,7]
When comparing our two stratified study periods, there was a greater absolute number of total adult (1820 vs. 1478) and positive (213 vs. 122) references in the 2009-2018 study period compared with the 1999-2008 study period. (Table 3) When comparing our two stratified study periods, while there were greater references per minute for adult themes (4.8 vs. 3.7 references per minute) and positive themes (0.6 vs. 0.3 reference per minute) in the 2009-2018 study period compared with the 1999-2008 study period, this was not statistically significant (p=0.38 for adult themes and p=0.41 for positive themes). (Table 3) When comparing our two stratified study periods, there was an increase over time in the total number of major adult themes except for “sexuality” and “partying”
When comparing our two stratified study periods, there was an increase over time in the total number of positive themes except for “camaraderie”
Summary
Music is an important aspect in the socialization of children and adolescents, often providing entertainment, frameworks for self-identity and the acquisition of morals, distraction from stressors, simple cures for boredom or loneliness, and structure for the development of relationships [1,2,3,4].Review began 10/18/2020 Review ended 10/20/2020 Published 10/28/2020Studies have shown that children and adolescents listen to music an average of 40 hours per week and anywhere from one to 6.8 hours per day [5,6,7]. The exposure of children and adolescents to music can occur in many different ways. Contemporary popular music can be heard in the background at restaurants or places of recreation or business, pop-up or television commercials, films or television shows, video games, concerts (live or live-streaming), or social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, etc.). There are parental locks for most electronic devices, tech-savvy children and adolescents are finding ways around them. While many social media and streaming services have “restriction mode” to block mature content, it requires the parent/guardian to be familiar with and activate the option. While radio stations and music streaming radio services often “censor” songs, what words/lyrics are deleted or modified is dependent on the specific station and not always regulated. When searching for popular songs on the internet, the “clean” censored version will appear; these versions may only censor specific vulgar words and not general adult themes or mature overtones
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