Conclusion

To conclude, this research project has allowed us to show that audio features of popular songs have evolved through time. However, on the contrary to our hypothesis, not every single one of them has changed (eg: tempo did not show any statistically significant change over the decades). 

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The audio feature that has changed the most is danceability. It has largely increased since the 1970s. On the contrary, length has significantly decreased. Other features, despite a few variations, have stayed stable trough years. 

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When putting the results of our analyses in context, it was evident that the composition of songs reflected what was going on in society - as if were reacting to the changing trends. For instance, acousticness decreased likely due to the rise in electronic music in the 90s and 00s. 

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From this study, we can estimate that if music continues to follow the same trends as in recent years, the future popular music will be  lower in energy, with a very high danceability, a higher tempo and a higher acousticness.