A project by the folks at

Part 1

Identifying Your Generational Gaps in Music

Part 2

Defining the ’90s Music Canon

Part 3

A Data-led Theory to Generationally Divide Dance Floors

A Data-Led Theory to Generationally Divide Dance Floors

This is a hypothetical wedding dance floor.

Wedding dance floor with 25 people drawn

The crowd on our dance floor is equally distributed by age.

People in their... 50s 30s 40s teens 20s Wedding dance floor with 25 people drawn, each grouped into age ranges by teens, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s

Some age groups are more likely to recognize certain songs than others.


(we collected a 3.5 million data points on what songs people know)

Suppose we play “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees , a song with almost universal recognition.


About 1 in 10 teenagers don’t recognize this song. Let’s assume this teenager, who doesn’t know “Stayin Alive,” exits the dance floor. 30s teens 50s 40s 20s where’s the drop? Wedding dance floor with 25 people drawn, each grouped into age ranges by teens, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s. One teenager is drawn off to the side, off the dance floor.

Playing “Get Low” by Lil Jon will draw a different crowd.


“Get Low has a thinning effect on the crowd. Almost no older people know it. Am I out of touch? Only about 67% of teens recognize “Get Low” teens 50s 20s 40s About 81% of people in their 20s know “Get Low.” 30s 4 dancers from their 50s are drawn off the floor. 1 30 year-old is drawn off the floor. 2 teenagers are drawn off the floor. 1 20 year old is drawn off the floor.

Play “Smack That” by Akon , released in 2006, and it’s your best shot at isolating people in their 20s.


“Smack That” is a generational marker, known by few people outside those who grew up with it. 20s A spotlight is drawn on 4 twenty year olds. 1 40 year old, 3 30 year olds, and 3 teens are on the dance floor. Everyone else is off the floor.

Play “Cold Hearted” by Paula Abdul , released in 1988, and you can do the same thing for people in their 40s.


A spotlight is on 4 40 year olds, 1 20 year old, 1 30 year old, and 2 50 year olds are on the floor. Everyone else is off the floor.

What if you needed a song that brings to the floor people in their 30s and 40s? There’s a Venn diagram for that.

3 0 T O 3 9 Y E A R - O L D S 4 0 T O 4 9 Y E A R - O L D S (and less likely for everyone else) Songs more likely to be recognized by specific generations
 The Bangles Eternal Flame
 Paula Abdul Cold Hearted Sisqo Thong Song
 A venn diagram showing Cold Hearted by Paul Abdul in the 40 to 49 year olds circle. Thong Song by Sisqo is in the 30 to 39 year olds circle. At the intersection between the two circles is Eternal Flame by the Bangles.

Adding in people in their 20s, and the diagram depicts 7 songs to generationally divide (or unify) dance floors.

3 0 T O 3 9 Y E A R - O L D S 4 0 T O 4 9 Y E A R - O L D S Eternal Flame
 The Bangles Bee Gees Stayin’ Alive
 The
Reason
 Hoobastank Stay
 Lisa Loeb Paula Abdul Cold Hearted Sisqo Thong Song
 Akon Smack That 2 0 T O 2 9 Y E A R - O L D S (and less likely for everyone else) Songs more likely to be recognized by specific generations
 The previous venn diagram now includes a circle for 20 to 29 year olds. In it is Smack That by Akon. At the intersection between 20 to 29 year olds and 30 to 39 year olds is Stay by Lisa Loeb. Between 20 to 29 year olds and 40 to 49 year olds is The Reason by Hoobastank. At the center intersecting all circles is Stayin Alive by Bee Gees.

Words + Data by Matt Daniels. Illustrations by Liana Sposto

This project is part of a series by The Pudding about

How Music is Remembered

View Part 1

Identifying Your Generational Gaps in Music

View Part 2

Defining the ’90s Music Canon

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