Hooked on Music: test your Eurovision music knowledge

What is a hit song made up of? And why are some songs much easier to remember than others? Musicologists Ashley Burgoyne and Henkjan Honing investigated this by using music from the Eurovision Song Contest. In the recently launched online experiment Hooked on Music , participants listen to songs from the Eurovision Song Contest throughout the years. The sooner you recognise which song it is, the more points you can earn. The music keeps cutting out for a few seconds, after which you have to indicate whether the song kicks in again at the correct point or not. This allows you to test your knowledge of music. The researchers aim to use the experiment to find out more about what makes songs recognisable and how we remember music in the long term. 'The listener is often underestimated,' says Henkjan Honing, professor in Music Cognition, 'but your memory and listening experience have a huge impact on the way you hear and appreciate music.