Stat Significant is Daniel Parris, a “data journalist and pop culture lover” on Substack.
One of the things he finds interesting is music. On this post I try to mention what he finds interesting, and occasionally how it might relate to my past and present interests.
It would appear that Karaoke emerged in Japan in the early 1970s, its name blending the words “kara” (meaning “empty”) and “oke” (short for “orchestra”). Thus translating to “empty orchestra“, or a music track with the lead vocals removed, allowing someone else (usually an amateur singer) to sing in place of the original artist.
As Daniel Parris points out, Google searches for karaoke far exceed the traffic commanded by pop juggernauts like Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and Lady Gaga (who produce songs with actual words). He goes on to list the top songs on karaoke playlists.
I can’t sing, never been in a karaoke bar, and have no interest in sing-alongs. But I do enjoy singing (more like shouting) along to songs when driving (alone) in the car (but I prefer to listen to podcasts).
The first rule in karaoke is to “not go there”. But if dragged in, buy everyone a drink (or two) and with some luck someone else will make a fool of themselves. If dragged on stage, try for a duet, and pick a tune you know, and if possible a funny or spoken-word song (with simple, repetitive lyrics).
The key may just be to “commit” (or as they say in the business “own” the song). Don’t worry about the sound of your voice, just hit the rhythm. Easier said than done!
But if I had to sing, what song would I choose?
“I’m Too Sexy”, by Right Said Fred, comes to mind. But would I have enough confidence? Maybe a duet, but otherwise it would have to be “Yellow Submarine”.
Possibly the highest risk-reward would be “Macarena”, by Los del Río. I might be able to do the fake accent in Spanish, and the key would be to get everyone on their feet to do the dance (which I don’t know).
It would appear that car brands appear in ~8% of all Billboard-charting songs. Mercedes is the most frequently referenced car brand by orders of magnitude, followed by Lamborghini and Bentley.
But perhaps more importantly, what about cars in the videos (may not be mentioned in the lyrics). They might just appear as visual metaphors for success, and might not even be driven. I’ve heard that the Cadillac was popular in the early 2000s, but I guess today it’s likely to be Lamborghini and Rolls-Royce, with the occasional red Ferrari.
This is quite an extensive review, but the bottom line is that the list of global streaming favourites is topped by the United States (43%), United Kingdom (10%), India (6%), several Latin American nations, and South Korea (3%).
So one view is to look at the overlap between local Spotify Top 50 and a Global Top 50. On top are Our list of nations possessing the most significant overlap with Global Top 50 is several Latin American countries, former British colonies, and Western European states. Choices are often dominated by cultural links with neighbours, or with the use of a common language (e.g. English).
So whats the smallest overlap? It’s Turkey (3%), Nigeria (12%), Greece (15%), Egypt (16%), Italy (19%), …
