"Our culture [has] shifted into a darker, more pessimistic phase

Source: Chris Dalla Riva

"Songs are a cultural indicator... Sadness is so widespread among youngsters (especially teen girls) that the Centers for Disease Control is now tracking it. So we shouldn’t be surprised that music and cultural indicators reflect the same reality.
    "Even the candidates for song of the [northern hemisphere] summer are filled with quiet despair—so much so that Spotify declared it the 'bummer summer.' ...
    "So what songs do sad teens want to hear during a bummer summer?
    "'The most obvious feature of a sad song is the tempo,' explains music psychologist Michael Bonshor. 'It tends to be fairly slow ... ' ...
    "So we have an odd situation. The slow tune is no longer dreamy music for couples, but sad, lonely music for the isolated and depressed. ...
    "Another telltale sign of sad songs is the minor key. This rise in minor key songs has been dramatic. Around 85% of songs were in a major key back in the 1960s, but in more recent years this has fallen in half....
    "This is an enormous change—and supports my view that our culture shifted into a darker, more pessimistic phase during the late 1990s and early 2000s."

~ Ted Gioia, from his post 'Why Is Music Getting Sadder?'