Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 29, 2026

Driving Under the Influence: How Music Listening Affects Driving Behaviors
Published on: March 27, 2019
Who remembers the Beatles? The collective memory for popular music
Stephen Spivack1,2, Sara Jordan Philibotte1, Nathaniel Hugo Spilka1
1Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, New York, United States of America.
Abstract:
How well do we remember popular music? To investigate how hit songs are recognized over time, we randomly selected number-one Billboard singles from the last 76 years and presented them to a large sample of mostly millennial participants. In response to hearing each song, participants were prompted to indicate whether they recognized it. Plotting the recognition proportion for each song as a function of the year during which it reached peak popularity resulted in three distinct phases in collective memory. The first phase is characterized by a steep linear drop-off in recognition for the music from this millennium; the second phase consists of a stable plateau during the 1960s to the 1990s; and the third phase, a further but more gradual drop-off during the 1940s and 1950s. More than half of recognition variability can be accounted for by self-selected exposure to each song as measured by its play count on Spotify. We conclude that collective memory for popular music is different from that of other historical phenomena.
Related Concept Videos
System of Memory
Working Memory
Long-Term Memory
Long-term memory can be categorized into two primary types: explicit and implicit memory. Explicit memory, also known as declarative memory, involves the conscious recollection of information that we deliberately try to remember, recall, and articulate. This type of memory encompasses specific facts, events, and...
Traumatic Memory
Repressed Memory
Immunological Memory
What is Immunological Memory?
Immunological memory is an integral function of the immune system that allows it to recognize and react more rapidly and effectively to pathogens previously encountered. This feature...

