On a late-night Dutch TV show, Ed Sheeran confidently showed the audience that every pop song is made up of only four chords.

With a guitar in hand, he then launched into an epic stream of hits, starting with Passenger’s ‘Let Her Go’ and wrapping up with a Bruno Mars medley.

Here’s what it looked like.

The insight?

If you want to climb the charts, keep your music simple. Here’s what scientists crunching the numbers have to say about this.

Basic beats and chords rule

Researchers from the University of Vienna wanted to understand why some music genres sell well while others, despite being very creative, don’t make it big. They thought they could unlock the secrets of the best songs by looking at how complex or simple the music is, based on which instruments they used.

They looked into Discogs, a massive online music database, and analyzed over half a million albums spanning over 50 years. They looked at what instruments were used in different genres to see if there was a pattern between simplicity, complexity, and sales.

What did they find?

The more formulaic and straightforward the instrumentation, the more commercial success it has. It’s a rather strong correlation. Or you can see it the other way around. Album sales often increase as instrumentational complexity decreases.

Genres like electronic and hip-hop music rely on a smaller set of instruments or tools.

• Electronic music: uses synths, drum beats, and a heavy use of digital tools, which offer a lot of sounds but don’t require a large variety of physical instruments.

• Hip-hop: focuses more on beats, loops, and samples from other songs rather than live instruments.

There’s a lot of repetition and the instrumentation is less varied and common across many genres.

On the other hand, genres like folk rock often involve a wider variety of traditional instruments. You see acoustic guitars, electric guitars, bass, drums, harmonicas, fiddles, mandolins, banjos, and more.

Genres like hip-hop and electronic music are more accessible to the general audience, thus getting a wider range of people buying into it.

Between artistry and market success

Keep it simple if you’re aiming for mass appeal and commercial success. It’s what fills stadiums and sells records.

Complex and innovative music might win you awards but will leave you with a niche audience.

But it also raises the question,

It’s like trying to serve two masters — yourself and the market.

On the one hand, you want to push boundaries and explore new sonic territories. Think Radiohead or early Björk. On the other hand, you want your sound to become a shared cultural experience, and there’s an undeniable appeal to having commercial success. Even if you’re not a big hit, you still need to pay the bills.

There has to be a way to balance being satisfied creatively and maximizing sales. But sometimes, it’s difficult to find the golden middle.

You can have simplicity with enough innovation to keep your music fresh and authentic. And you can have commercially viable songs without feeling like you’ve sold your soul.

Understand the market, but don’t lose your unique voice.

At the end of the day, you want fans who appreciate both your hits and the artistry behind them.

True success lies in bridging that gap.

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