23 Jul 2023

Emery Schubert: Why earworm songs get stuck in our heads

From Sunday Morning, 11:10 am on 23 July 2023
A man wearing headphones facing away from the camera, with a moving train blurred in the background.

Photo: Burst/Pexels

Do you ever hear a snippet of a tune and before you know it, it's on rotate in your head, and you can't seem to shake it for hours... or days, or even weeks? 

You're not alone. This pesky phenomenon - a catchy tune that runs through a person's mind - is known as an 'earworm'. 

A study of 240 American university students in 2020 showed 97% had experienced an 'earworm' in the past month. 

Professor Emery Schubert is from the School of the Arts and Media at the University of New South Wales.