{"ID":5937186,"CreatedAt":"2026-07-07T03:14:33.014478982Z","UpdatedAt":"2026-07-09T08:57:31.292890551Z","DeletedAt":null,"paper_url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.04832","arxiv_id":"2607.04832","title":"Semantic Homogenization in Italian Popular Music: A Diachronic Analysis","abstract":"In recent years, studies have revealed a decline in semantic variety across popular music lyrics, particularly in English-language songs on streaming platforms like Spotify. This research examines whether a similar trend can be observed in a different linguistic and cultural context: the lyrics of all finalist songs from the 75 editions of the Sanremo Music Festival, Italy's most renowned music competition. What sets this work apart is the development of a flexible and efficient methodology for tracking changes in semantic similarity over time, which can be applied to different datasets to study similar phenomena. Drawing on a combination of full-text, segment-based, topic-based, and word-level analyses, the approach leverages both embedding techniques and large language models. When applied to the Sanremo corpus, this framework reveals a gradual move toward increasing semantic uniformity, echoing the global patterns identified in previous studies. These findings underscore the value of natural language processing tools in uncovering long-term shifts in musical language and cultural expression.","short_abstract":"In recent years, studies have revealed a decline in semantic variety across popular music lyrics, particularly in English-language songs on streaming platforms like Spotify. This research examines whether a similar trend can be observed in a different linguistic and cultural context: the lyrics of all finalist songs fr...","url_abs":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.04832","url_pdf":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2607.04832v1","authors":"[\"Lorenzo Canale\",\"Stefano Scotta\",\"Alberto Messina\"]","published":"2026-07-06T09:07:36Z","proceeding":"cs.CL","tasks":"[\"cs.CL\"]","methods":"[\"Language Model\"]","has_code":false}