Uncharted Territory: What Numbers Tell Us About the Biggest Hit Songs and Ourselves

Dalla Riva, a senior product manager at Audiomack, mixes data analysis with music criticism in this scrupulous debut analysis of popular music trends from the 1950s to the present. The book moves chronologically, exploring technological, cultural, and societal shifts that shaped the music of each era. For example, the popularization of digital recording in the 1990s paved the way for chart-toppers longer than four minutes and saw Napster fuel debates about copyright. Dalla Riva also rates the number one hits of each era (the “trance-inducing” ABBA hit “Dancing Queen” and Earth, Wind, and Fire’s “Shining Star” fare favorably; lowlights include “The Streak” by Ray Stevens), while ample graphs and charts bring the statistical research to life. Throughout, Dalla Riva answers questions that will fascinate data nerds (“When a number one hit loses the top spot, how far does it fall?”) while taking a broader look at the forces that have influenced the music industry. He notes, for instance, that the category Billboard now calls R&B was originally labeled “race records” and intended specifically for Black artists, a bias that persists today—“If you’re a singer and you’re Black,” Frank Ocean once explained, “you’re an R&B artist. Period.” Data-minded music fans will relish this deep dive. (Nov.)