Irish traditional music reveals how culture evolves
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Researchers analysed thirteen years of data on around 20,000 Irish traditional tunes to understand how cultural diversity survives despite some tunes being more popular than others.
The team fitted ecological models to weekly tune popularity, testing whether tunes changed randomly, became more or less popular based on how often they were played, or succeeded due to their own qualities. They discovered that tunes have differing levels of “fitness”, meaning some are more likely to be learned and repeated than others.
The researchers connected 29% of these fitness differences to combinations of social factors and the tunes’ melodies. They also observed that tunes often spread together because musicians play them in sets, similar to how traits link in genetics. By comparing changes in a tune's popularity with available recordings, the scientists pinpointed how a tune previously out of favour could gain popularity after being featured in a well-known recording.
Despite this evidence of tunes becoming more or less popular, the overall diversity of the music actually increased. This growth happened because new tunes constantly entered the repertoire, balancing out the effects of selection. The study demonstrates that cultural ecosystems can maintain diversity even when some elements are favoured over others, establishing Irish traditional music as a valuable resource for studying cultural evolution.
