Original analyses computed from the 19,000+ songs in our library. Each piece runs the numbers live from the database — so the data is current, not a 2024 snapshot.
Every song scored 0–100 for sensory load. Intensity peaked in the 1980s, not now. The gentlest and most intense genres, and a hall of fame of the songs most likely to ambush you with a quiet-to-loud trap.
By Dan Cohen · Music I Want Research
A sensory analysis of 19,202 songs across 8 decades. The popular "loudness war" story is real but partial — the bigger shift is the collapse of both the safe and intense ends of the catalog. The middle ate everything.
By Dan Cohen · Music I Want Research
See also: the Music Studio — the free tools built on this same data.