Hitmakers

Derek Thompson's book on what actually makes songs, art, and stories popular, cited repeatedly across three episodes for the same underlying argument: popularity is driven far more by exposure, familiarity, and social signaling than by any inherent quality of the work itself.

Cited for James Cutting's Cornell University experiments showing repeated, unwitting exposure alone shifted which Impressionist paintings students rated as their favorites (see Cutting Cornell Impressionist-Art Familiarity Study), and for the story of Caillebotte's controversial will forcing Cézanne and Monet's then-unloved paintings into a Paris museum, which retroactively made them beloved (see Caillebotte Impressionist Bequest Case) — both cited in Episode 161's shorter retelling and Episode 167's fuller one. Cited in Episode 166 for a 2013 study finding audience ratings of abstract Picasso and Cubist paintings improved dramatically once viewers were given a short explanation of the painting's meaning (see Picasso Cubist Meaning-Disclosure Study). Cited in Episode 167 for the exposure-driven rise of "Rock Around the Clock," "Royals," and "Call Me Maybe" (see Rock Around the Clock Exposure-Driven Hit Songs Case), a 1990 study on repeated exposure making children like disliked foods (olives) and a related myth-exposure study (see Olive-Taste Exposure Study, Shark-Cartilage Myth-Exposure Study), and for the television show Lost sustaining a huge audience for years by deliberately stockpiling unresolved mysteries rather than answers (see Uncertainty-Engagement Studies).

Cited again in Episode 190 for David Huron's mice-based habituation/dishabituation research explaining hit-song repetition patterns (see Huron Mice Habituation-Dishabituation Music Study).

Discussed in

• Episode 161 — 161-10-lessons-from-the-1-marketing-podcasters
• Episode 166 — 166-should-i-share-all-my-secrets
• Episode 167 — 167-what-makes-a-song-popular
• Episode 190 — 190-how-to-give-an-election-winning-speech

Related

• Mere Exposure Effect
• Cutting Cornell Impressionist-Art Familiarity Study
• Caillebotte Impressionist Bequest Case
• Picasso Cubist Meaning-Disclosure Study
• Rock Around the Clock Exposure-Driven Hit Songs Case
• Olive-Taste Exposure Study
• Shark-Cartilage Myth-Exposure Study
• Uncertainty-Engagement Studies
• Huron Mice Habituation-Dishabituation Music Study
• David Huron