Reacción a "Pop lyrics increasingly talk about stress and are more negative, except in times of social crisisomentos de crisis social"

The study reveals a sustained increase in negativity, stress and simplicity in American pop lyrics over recent decades, but also shows that this trend moderates in times of social crisis, supporting the idea that music functions as a spontaneous tool for emotional self-regulation. When the environment is emotionally overwhelming, it seems that the public seeks less negative lyrics, consistent with research indicating that music is used to adjust affective states depending on the context. From a clinical perspective, this pattern is relevant because it suggests that music selection can be used strategically. In this regard, recent studies show that individual variables such as musical/social anhedonia (García-Rodríguez et al., 2021) or alexithymia (García-Rodríguez et al., 2023) modulate the emotional response to music, suggesting that interventions should be personalised. Similarly, research in music therapy with women undergoing cancer treatment (Fernández-Company et al., 2024) shows that well-designed musical interventions can improve well-being and reduce psychological distress, highlighting the clinical potential of music as a regulatory resource.  

The study also has significant limitations that must be taken into account: it analyses only lyrics, leaving out fundamental elements of musical emotion such as melody, harmony and rhythm; the musical stimuli represent only the American mainstream, not the entire spectrum of music production and consumption; and the data is correlational, so it does not allow for the establishment of a direct causality between social changes and musical changes. Furthermore, basic personal factors such as age and gender differences in emotional regulation (Fernández-Company et al., 2024) are not considered, which can significantly affect the way people use music to modulate their mood.  

Even so, the central finding of the study is consistent: music not only reflects the emotional climate of an era, but also acts as a barometer and buffer for collective unrest, in line with both clinical evidence and the everyday use of playlists to manage mood. These results invite us to ask relevant questions about how to more deliberately harness the regulatory potential of music in contexts of uncertainty, as well as for the promotion of psychological well-being.