The New Paths of Italian Song. A Sociological and Lexicometric Analysis

Italian music in the last decade is characterized mainly by the rise of rap, previously relegated to a niche of listeners, and an archipelago of musicians from the many talent shows on Italian television. The essay presents the results of a survey of a representative sample of 653 songs, 478 of which come from the repertoire of rappers and 175 from musicians of various genres who have graced the stages of talent shows. The goal of the analysis is to penetrate, through text mining, the content that is most disseminated by rap and songs offered in talent shows, trying to suggest interpretive perspectives with respect to potential effects on listeners. It is in that form and content that can be read some kind of social distinction that passes through the transformation of audience tastes in music.