How to get rid of a catchy tune – these songs that get stuck in your head: NPR

Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is one of the holiday classics And also a catchy tune for many. Here she sings at a 2014 Christmas concert in New York City.

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Maroon Ent

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Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Maroon Ent

The holidays are just around the corner. ‘Tis the season when chestnuts are roasted on the open fire and Santa Claus nibbles on your nose – And Songs like Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” get hopelessly stuck in our heads.

But don’t worry. Help is at hand.

“The Earworm Eraser” is a 40-second audio track specifically designed to crush earworms – a song that keeps circling in your brain and isn’t easily shaken.

According to a 2011 study in the journal, about 90% of people report this problem at least once a week Psychology of music.

“A really effective way to tune out catchy tunes is to listen to something else,” said Kelly Jakubowski, associate professor of music psychology at Durham University in the United Kingdom.

But if the replacement tune is just as catchy, it might just create another annoying catchy tune. Therefore, Earworm Eraser avoids the features that usually make songs catchy.

“I’ve shown in my research that songs that have a more danceable tempo tend to become earworms,” ​​said Jakubowski, who was part of the team that software company Atlassian put together to develop the Earworm Eraser. “And we also found that a predictable overall melodic shape can make a song catchy.”

That’s why the Earworm Eraser sounds like someone who can’t decide what to listen to: every few seconds he switches between fast and slow tempos, but also switches time signatures and musical styles, ranging from electronica to classical.

The Earworm Eraser has received more than 100,000 hits on YouTube since its launch last year. But the tool is not foolproof. Some people in the YouTube comments section say it doesn’t work for them.

However, most say it does the job.

Philadelphia-based technician Lauren Ettlinger said the Earworm Eraser saved her after she visited her 1-year-old niece in Phoenix.

“She is the light of my life. But she listens to these really annoying children’s songs,” Ettlinger said. “And she went through a long period where she was obsessed with the song ‘Baby Shark’.”

Ettlinger said she initially tried to get rid of this song – which happens to be the most viewed YouTube video of all time – by listening to tracks by her favorite artists, including Taylor Swift.

“It occurs to me that Taylor Swift has really catchy songs,” Ettlinger said. “But something about that ‘Baby Shark’ song was relentless and wouldn’t let me go.”

Ettlinger said it took the Earworm Eraser to achieve the best “Baby Shark.”

“It just drowned out the noise, calmed me down and relaxed me,” she said.

Ettlinger said if she hosts her niece for the holidays this year, she may have to play the catchy eraser — over and over again.

Jennifer Vanasco edited this story for broadcast and digital. Chloe Weiner mixed the sound.