Earworm. Farrah S. Flickr. Link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/reallyfarrah/5623957794/in/photolist-9yYfHy-3bqAFZ-FXSxhx-oa6U71-87Pkcj-xM9ERB-f5wVAa-6aZQZL-ngsCXS-6UcNuG-ng948k-f5MdMY-hMiqTv-6nPe4i-qeEBPH-6gLA7D-3K6oAc-eQgTAL-aec8x2-oa67pY-on5Zko-7ifXac-2daKBC-oaaQ3K-6w78Zn-7ijREY-zX7yG-8Vwxh1-c5p8s9-ksNcQs-aecaG4-ksN95m-jUbeha-mTFifw-dkCPMB-9CHNgN-4rWwRG-q64Zv-8UQYMK-hGSGFe-9d29Z1-8r4TMz-zX7Ec-9DFiZC-c5nzpb-ksLuXM-ksLr7k-ksKPQR-ksKWbg-ksN3RA
Have you ever had the experience that a song (or a piece of songs) gets stuck in your heads? This phenomenon is known as earworm, or scientifically, involuntary musical imagery (INMI). According to Dr. James Kellaris, 98% of people have this experience.
Ted-ed. Earworms: Those songs that get stuck in your head – Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NE_OoO-N54
Why it happens?
A study published on November 3, 2016 shows how popularity and melodic features are related to earworms based on responses of 3,000 survey participants. According to this research, popular songs which are often on the radio seem to have higher possibilities of becoming earworms. Also, these songs share many similar melodic features such as high tempo, simple structure and unique interval patten.
How to solve it?
Most of time, it is annoying to have a earworm. According to a study conducted by Dr. Philip Beaman and Dr. Tim Williams in 2014, when trying to get rid of earworms, 46.67% of people choose to listen to or think about other songs, 25.71% of people use the method of generalized displacement such as staying busy, and 18.10% of people just stay inactive. Due to Wegner’s theory of ironic mental control, inactivity becomes the best solution of getting rid of earworms.
In addition, a research conducted in 2015 shows that chewing gum is another effective way to relief from earworms. This research contains three experiments and each of them shows that chewing gum reduces both the number of voluntary and involuntary-unwanted-musical thoughts. Scientists believe that chewing gum can interfere the process of “hearing” musical recollections, and thus reduce effects of earworms.
You do not need to worry about having earworms — it is a normal phenomenon of being human. If you want to get rid it, just try to do nothing or chew gum.
— Yiwei Liu
