Measuring sounds from the East: digital approaches to commonality and specificity in Chinese Mandarin pop lyrics

Abstract Since China’s reform and opening-up in 1978, its popular music industry has experienced rapid development and emerged as a significant component of global contemporary pop music. This study conducts a systematic analysis of contemporary Chinese Mandarin pop lyrics (1978–2019) with digital methodologies. A stylometric measurement, the Busemann coefficient, was employed to demonstrate the lyrics’ high textual activity from both static and dynamic perspectives. This finding supports the lyrics’ stylistic essence as narratives. Besides, sentiment analysis of lyrics reveals an overall positive tone, though a significant watershed occurred around the year 2000, marking a divergence between the two periods. Furthermore, analyses with topic modeling demonstrate diversified topic distribution patterns across these periods, reflecting both the universality of popular culture and the distinctive Chinese characteristics shaped by cultural and temporal contexts.