Jadey and I got interviewed for this one!

Right. Goodbye Google.

Jadey and I are in this, more or less summarising our book on hooks before analysing the hooks in ‘Cuff It’ by Beyoncé and ‘bad idea, right?’ by Olivia Rodrigo. Looking forward to reading some of the other chapters!

Final call for papers! 📣 🗣 More info here: amps.org.au/call-for-pap... 🗓 Important Dates Extended abstract submission deadline – 6 May 2026 Abstract notifications – 29 May 2026 Conference: 9-11 December 2026

Circa 1999, pre Napster, I discovered you could download MP3s from usenet, and the random song I downloaded to see if it worked was ‘Hideway’ by Olivia Tremor Control. Which was great! On figuring out where that song came from, I bought a CD online for the very first time, from CDNow I think.

Found this a pretty interesting piece about the machinery behind music industry hype and the writer‘s personal response to finding out that her new faves’ popularity may not be as organic as she hoped www.wordsfromeliza.com/p/fake-fans

Subjects I’ve taught at uni: History and Philosophy of Psychology Australian Popular Music Genetics and Bioscience for Psychologists Singing and Vocality Learning and Cognition

I wrote this recently for the Conversation about what research says about why and how songs get stuck in our heads. theconversation.com/why-do-we-ge...

Do not cite an academic paper unless you’ve read it

“Murujuga also holds the world’s oldest known depiction of a human face, believed to be at least 30,000 years old.”

Once & for all, let's specify what "poptimism" was & wasn't, and why many people can't stop blaming it for every cultural change of the past 20 years. Most recently the esteemed Kelefa Sanneh, who's often (wrongly) said to have started it! Today in @slate.com slate.com/culture/2025...

Can you think of examples of books, films, TV shows, etc. featuring earworms or other types of imagined music? Please share them here! musicinmyhead.org/inner-music-...

Barraged in the past few days by emails, meetings, and notices about funding cuts, AI, and fraud on massive scales while also grading student assignments showing huge increase in genAI usage. Feels like a complete existential crisis for research and higher education.

🌿 SEEKING THRIVING MUSICIANS! Your story could help others. Complete the quick survey below and contribute to a better understanding of musician wellbeing. PLEASE SHARE if you know anyone who could contribute. SURVEY LINK: scuau.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Nice to see @hellodrjadey.bsky.social in the Conversation talking about Brian Wilson, and I was there when they met: theconversation.com/how-visionar...

I never worked with David Huron, but he had a tremendous impact on my life in the world of #musicscience. Wrote this for others in the music cognition community who want to share in his memory. davidjohnbaker.rbind.io/post/2025-06...

oh to be nuns in a convent meowing

I call this the ‘shelfmate effect’: you look up a book in the library & go seek it in the stacks, but then other books shelved nearby also catch your eye

Read @hardy.id.au's great analysis of the woeful showing of Aussie talent in this year's Hottest 100. As the domination of streaming services marches on, it's time to rethink how we provide public support for Australian music. joe.hardy.id.au/triple-js-ho...

Our new study! Participants rated isolated phrases from pop songs for salience and memorability - we found vocals, choruses and what we called ‘compound hooks’ predicted higher ratings: doi.org/10.1525/mp.2... #musicscience

NOOOOOOOOOOO

For years, the public has called them "fake artists." But internally at Spotify, the program has a name: Perfect Fit Content. My investigation, and the first look into my book Mood Machine, is the January cover at @harpers.bsky.social. Online now & on newsstands next week harpers.org/archive/2025...

Notice for my fellow white people: you're probably thinking "Motown is some of the best music ever made! Shame I've heard the same 50 songs over and over". Good News! There are THOUSANDS of songs but shitty radio formats kept you from hearing them. Check out year by year playlists of singles alone

For all the newcomers, here is a starter pack of people to follow on #musicscience, music cognition and related topics. just comment below if you want to be added! go.bsky.app/4oZbDpj #musicskyence

Ea-nāṣir is the recipient of the world’s oldest complaint letter. He’s reportedly the worst businessman of the 18th century, a mediocre conman whose actions should have him put out of business. Is this fair? Here’s a thread on the most up-to-date research on this captivating figure.

Dear musician friends, My PhD student, Aliya, is doing a survey asking musicians to describe how they use imagining music in their heads in their work. It will likely take you less than 20 minutes, and you can win an Amazon voucher. Thanks in advance! durhamuniversity.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

This is such a great answer and why I love doing history on Reddit to see people ask and find an expert on a fun topic!

Very happy to get a print copy of the Cambridge Companion to Music in Australia, in which @hellodrjadey.bsky.social and I have a chapter on number one singles!

Look I reckon the answer is probably no and in addition, fuck off.

@hellodrjadey.bsky.social I wonder if Jeff Lynne is getting a bunch of royalties right now…

This is surprising! insidestory.org.au/the-affair-t...

it's been like 40 years are they giants or not

I like this argument that AI hallucinations are better understood as bullshit per Harry Frankfurt’s definition of bullshit. And it honestly is a better way to describe what LLMs are designed to do. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

🐱😼

i'm not even kidding: i'm three days away from retreating from every major tech platform. Will have some extremely limited use of meta's platforms purely to stay in touch with family, and am working on transitioning from my gmail slowly. It's time to quit.

JCU has the Elizabeth Pearse Music Scholarship to fund the study of music at Masters or PhD level. Applications now open. #MusicScience

My primary job, social media management, didn’t even exist when I was in college. I learned to do it because I was taught to write, think on my feet, and have subject matter expertise. Chasing future “employability” through majors is a fools errand because they will change it on you every few years

Jadey O’Regan and Paul Mac discussing how the use of AI on ‘Now And Then’ is a continuation of the Beatles’ long use of state of the art tech: theconversation.com/is-now-and-t...

I have seen some well meaning and incorrect discourse on the time line about all of the medieval period in europe being the "Dark Ages" and how the rest of the world was awesome in comparison. I have written before about why that's inaccurate and dangerous. going-medieval.com/2020/10/16/o...

Back In The Shadows' was written and recorded in jail by Vic Simms in the 1970s, about how people want indigenous people like him to remain unseen/unheard. The smooth countrypolitan sound is quite a striking contrast to the sardonic lyrics: youtu.be/Po209iEWroY?...

The 80s have officially claimed 1990.

AMPS (amps.org.au) is now on BlueSky. #MusicScience

We have El Niño! I repeat, we have El Niño! www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso...

I have just realised that on the 21st of September this week, I am going to be teaching first year psychology students about long term memory....

I'm enjoying using flux.qa to get anonymous feedback from students during lectures (e.g., with MCQs or free responses). It's all very intuitive and well put together.

the Marchese NYT interview of Jann Wenner is just brutal. You can see how Wenner has never been challenged on any of his beliefs, no matter how ignorant, in half a century; he has no idea what to do but hang himself more with his own rope www.nytimes.com/2023/09/15/a...

Deadly predators!

@peterhollo.com It works!