Sterling Terrell

recovering economist

Different Music

Different Music

You know what nearly nobody wants? Different music.

This no doubt has to do with Zapoleon’s Rule – the rule of three.

For is you like Willie Nelson, you are likely to enjoy Waylon Jennings.

If you get down with Jay-Z, you probably like Dr. Dre.

And if Bob Dylan is your jam, Simon & Garfunkel is good too.

It’s true if you ask me though, most people just want to sing about love or having too much fun.

“Things are changing in pop music and people have caught on to his formulas, to an extent. So you have to break the rules a bit and, as Max says, ‘let art win.’ ” But in general, she adds, “People like hearing songs that sound like something they’ve heard before, that’s reminiscent of their childhood, and of what their parents listened to. I mean, every once in a while something new will happen, like dubstep, where it’s like, ‘This is robot future music!,’ but most people still just want to hear about love and partying.”

-John Seabrook, The Song Machine

Zapoleon’s Rule

Zapoleon’s Rule

What is Zapoleon’s Rule?

It is also called the “Rule Of Three.”

Simply, it says that a song must be heard at least three times before one can know if they like it or not.

Kind of crazy, huh? But it makes sense.

See, there becomes a familiarity to music the more it is heard, like an enjoyment of casual comfort from an old song.

This is where the relationship with a song might be as enjoyable as the song itself.

This refers back to my post on Hit Predictor.

And Zapoleon’s Rule is – clearly – why the radio will play a reputable artist’s new song over and over again.

The main difficulty Zapoleon had to overcome in creating Hit Predictor, he says was what that he says, was that people don’t know if they like a song unless they’ve already heard it. “There’s an old adage that you can only do research on people who are already familiar with the song,” he says. Zapoleon refers to this as the “rule of three”—you have to hear a new song at least three times before you know if you like it or not. Traditional call-out research, which radio stations do to test their playlists, is conducted on songs people have already heard. “They aren’t taking a totally unfamiliar song and playing them that,” he says.

-John Seabrook, The Song Machine

Sterling Terrell