Let’s say I were to attempt to make a “Complete Human Music Compilation Set” including all songs that exist now. Including really old ones to really new ones. How many would there be. So songs that were written, maybe even recorded, but lost would not count.
I assume a rough estimate is the best that we can do.
Would the list include songs that were made up, but never recorded?
If it did, it would have to include the song my brother and I had our mouths washed out for singing at the top of our voices when we were younger -
Wee bum penis Poo!
All feels nice in your shoe!
(repeat ad nauseum)
JB
Well, if you want to start your list chronologically, here is a good candidate for the first song on the list.
I’d say, starting at Oog’s first rock and stick symphony in the key of “ugh” and ending in the somewhat less sophisticated (both lyrically and musically) Britnay Spears’ I’m a Slave 4 U…about a gazillion. Give or take a jillion.
Say 10 new hits a week out of 100 released songs a week out of 1000 possible songs a week (including album tracks) multiplied by 50 weeks a year and say 100 years (take a conservative approach) already gives you a figure of 5 million. The real figure would be in the order of magnitude of 10-100 million or so, I would guess. If anything higher rather than lower.
Why? Want to rank them?
Just the other day, I found a tape I created round about 1989. It contains about 30 original songs that I created that year. These were the best of the hundreds of songs I composed and recorded during that period of my life.
When I was a child, every night when I went to bed my mother would sing me a song to help me sleep. A new original song every night.
If you look at all the creative people who have ever lived, we’re talking about hundreds of billions of songs, maybe even trillions.
Then when you factor in Steve Allen, you’re getting into numbers that even number theory people are afraid to go near.
We may want to make the distinction between music and noise
Let’s assume there’s some sort of melody. Let’s limit it to those recorded on tape, video or paper. So tighthead and Oog are out, Neptune is in. But let’s also include those songs which exist within an oral tradition of learning. So the Hawaiian group down the street which sings songs passed down through generations are included even though they haven’t been recorded or written down. I hope you can catch the fine line between tighthead and those Hawaiians.
Leave us also not forget those songs which exist out of the western pop culture. Think China, Japan, etc.
Dragon Phoenix’s 10-100 million is an interesting number.
Do we know the size of the music catalog of any major companies? Say EMI or Sony?