The Most Popular Song In The World

The Nokia ringtone used to be heard more than a billion times per  day, making it one of the most popular songs in the world. We tend to  consider cellphone rings as somewhat antithetical to  music. There is a whole subset of YouTube videos dedicated to the perverse thrill of  watching a delicately beautiful musical moment ruined by the harsh cry  of a default ringtone. In this episode, we zoom in on one of these  annoying melodies to see if there's not some hidden musical craft  present in the ubiquitous bleeps and bloops that envelop us. Later,  Charlie shares a piece made solely of this sonic detritus, and a data  scientist locates surprising musical patterns in a most unexpected  source. Featuring:The Nokia TuneThe Beatles - She's So HeavyOne Direction - Live While We're YoungFrancisco Tarrega - Gran ValsLinks:Charlie Harding - Bowl ArrowJonathan Berger's Article in Nautlius: How Music Hijacks our Perception of TimeFamous Cell Phone Rings Played on the Piano by Tony AnnGreg Hochmuth's work Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices