The Zero Burn Rate Myth

[ListenToItTwice]

As pop music fans, we're always talking about 'burn rate' as a key indicator a song's success. Some really great songs are cursed with high burn rates: they're masterpieces at first listen, but the love dies away quickly. Other lesser songs are blessed with remarkably low burn rates, allowing them to gain higher esteem, and long chart lives.

But is there such thing as zero burn rate? A song that never gets old, no matter how many times you hear it. In your experience, what songs have that?

At the moment, I'm wondering if "Call Me Maybe" is the long-awaited Zero Burn Rate Messiah.

[.indulgecountry]

For me, A Little Bit Stronger has no burn rate. I am never tired of hearing it, regardless of how many times I have, and at this point, that number is very high.

[ListenToItTwice]

^ Haha I hate that song :x

Though your bringing that up does raise an interesting point: Do mid-tempos such as that have an advantage in this category? Up-tempos can start to wear you down after too many listens, and ballads can start to drag. Do some mid-tempos have just the right balance?

[Deleted]

We Found Love is the closest we've gotten recently, imo.

[M1tchD]

Maroon 5 - Moves Like Jagger
Cobra Starship - You Make Me Feel
Iyaz - Replay
Jason Derulo - Whatcha Say
Gym Class Heroes - Stereo Hearts

Just to name a few. And I'm pretty sure Call Me Maybe will be added to that list by the end of summer.

[Deleted]

If I played a song over and over and over and over and over, I'd get burned out on it no matter what song it is.

[Au$tin]

I honestly cannot think of one example. Sure, there are plenty of old songs I love, but at one point I was tired of hearing them.

LOL @ "Call Me Maybe." It definitely has a low one for me.

[ListenToItTwice]

Jun 6, 2012 10:44:15 GMT -5 @jazzysoul47 said:

If I played a song over and over and over and over and over, I'd get burned out on it no matter what song it is.

I'm listening to "Call Me Maybe" on repeat right now to test it out. I'm on listen #21 and still feeling pretty good about it

[Lozzy]

I don't think there's such a thing. I don't see it at all in "Call Me Maybe"; I was burnt out on it by late March (and I have 32 plays for it as of present, so I don't think it's that).

"Feel So Close" is a recent song that has had an incredibly low burn rate for me, but yet, I did still feel burnt on it at once. "Glad You Came" has done pretty well for itself too, and so had "Like A G6", "Just Can't Get Enough" and "Give Me Everything". "Take Care" will probably be one to add to this soon, as it's been my #1 for 15 weeks and counting without problem, but I haven't actually played it so much. Personally, I think uptempo dance tracks tend to have the better burn rate compared to ballads or midtempos for me. I played "Sexy Bitch" over 300 times in the space of two weeks or less back in 2009, and that worked perfectly fine.

[Deleted]

I will say, ballads (the kind that almost no one releases anymore) traditionally have a lower burn rate for me than uptempos.

I've never been someone who plays songs over and over though. My most played song on last.fm has 115 plays and I've had my account for 7 years.

[Devil Marlena Nylund]

It's a tough one, for sure. I think for me, burn rate is a victim of time rather than number of listens. Although I need a very brief break from the new Brandi Carlile album since I've been listening to it nearly non-stop since last week.

My most played song on iTunes is 150 plays right now for Telephone by Lady GaGa. I've been burnt out on it mildly for a bit. I say mildly because I can still listen and enjoy in some contexts but if it were to come on during a random shuffle list, I'd probably skip it. Some songs I can endure more listens than others but for most, it's about 20-40 times listening. If I can last beyond 40 plays, I really like the song. Few songs go past 80 plays on my iTunes. Only 6 have reached 100 since late 2008.

[Scotty]

The Edge of Glory, I guess. I usually have a quick burn rate on songs and move on pretty quickly, but I've always enjoyed that one consistently.

[Deleted]

Very much depends on the listener. "Call Me Maybe" was a huge burn rate for me for example.

[Deleted]

I never liked "Call Me Maybe" to begin with. There's definitely no song that has a 0 burn rate across the board for every single person.

[jaytee]

For me, the songs that tend to have the lowest burn rates are slower R&B jams. "Un-thinkable (I'm Ready)" and "There Goes My Baby" are the two most recent songs I can think of that I've played pretty excessively and am still not at all tired of. But even going back, I can still listen to "How You Gonna Act Like That" or "Differences" or "Twisted" pretty endlessly.

[Ezekiel 23:20–21]

I don't think there are any songs that will be universal zero burn rate ones. We all have different ones for different reasons. I can't really think of any because too much of anything can make you sick.

Regarding, I don't like "Call Me Maybe". It was excruciating to hear it in Abercrombie & Fitch. I was hoping it would end quickly.

[Deleted]

Burn rate is different for everyone. I actually have quite a few that have never gotten old for me, and I loved them all first listen.

They are:

Britney Spears - Hold It Against Me, Born To Make You Happy, Stronger
Spice Girls - Holler
Vertical Horizon - Everything You Want
Matchbox Twenty - Bent
3 Doors Down - Kryptonite
Katy Perry - California Gurls
Mariah Carey - We Belong Together
Cheryl Cole - Promise This
Armin Van Buuren ft. Sharon Den Adel - In And Out of Love
Linking Park - Breaking the Habit, Somewhere I Belong
Rihanna - Disturbia, Cold Case Love, Russian Roullette
Everything But the Girl - Missing
Sonique - Feels So Good
Aaliyah - Try Again
JLO - Waiting For Tonight, On the Floor

...I could go on and on, but I never get tired of those I just listed.

[Kurt]

Jun 6, 2012 10:12:18 GMT -5 ListenToItTwice said:

But is there such thing as zero burn rate? A song that never gets old, no matter how many times you hear it. In your experience, what songs have that?

I think you answered this yourself by using the word "myth" in your title, hehe.

[ListenToItTwice]

^ "Waiting for Tonight" <3 <3 You are correct, sir

[Deleted]

A lot of Shania's songs have no burn rate for me. Mutt Lange has that magic touch when it comes to production.

[Cerbius]

"Fighter" by Christina Aguilera comes closest to that definition for me; I've played it pretty consistently on a weekly basis for a few years now.

[Legenderry]

I still listen to E.T. all the time. Of course the huge obsession over it has worn off, but I still really REALLY enjoy it.

I would consider We Belong Together and Say It Right as songs with very low burn-rate.

[Mack]

'Video Games'. According to last.fm, I've listened to that song 575 times and I'm still not tired of it whatsoever.

[ListenToItTwice]

^ :O I can't even imagine. I'm a huge Lana fan, but I still need to be in the right mood to listen to her.

[Deleted]

Mindless uptempos have a much lower burn rate for me, since I can basically tune out and just bob my head without paying too much attention to every single element of a song during every listen. That might sound stupid but I regularly have uptempo songs get 50-100+ plays on weeks, without even realizing it.

[esoteric76]

Jun 6, 2012 16:38:40 GMT -5 @jazzysoul47 said:

I never liked "Call Me Maybe" to begin with.

I wouldn't say I don't like the song, but I don't love it either. I'm really trying to figure out why Pulse is so obsessed with this song.

Celine's "If That's The Way It Is" has zero burn for me!
Rihanna's "S&M" also, i'm also in agreement that "We Found Love" is really close from the way people are just loving it constantly.

[Cody Wants Out...]

I'm pretty sure the zero burn rate is just a myth. Then again, there are some songs I should be tired of by now, but am not yet (e.g. Keith Urban's "You Gonna Fly").

[Jay D83]

Anything that radio plays incessantly has a high burn rate with me. When I get an album, my favorites are ALWAYS non-singles and if I song I like becomes a smash hit, chances are, I'll hate it pretty soon after.

I'll only go back to it after radio/other people stop playing it. For instance, I fell in love with "Like A G6" after everybody else had long abandoned it.

[icefire9]

E.T. and Starry Eyed are the two songs that have the lowest burn rate for me, its no coincidence that these are two of my favorite songs ever.

[damazz09]

There has never been a point where Till The World Ends has burned out on me. Everytime I hear it on the radio, I get equally excited to hear it. It's not my favorite song of all time but it's very high on my chart.