US unemployment correlates with pop music energy levels — analysis of Billboard Hot 100 (2000–2022)

I correlated US unemployment data with Spotify audio features from Billboard's yearly top songs (2000–2022).

Key findings:

• Energy: r = 0.57, p = 0.005
• Danceability: r = −0.69, p = 0.0004
• Lag analysis suggests music follows economic shifts by ~1 year

The COVID period breaks the pattern — unemployment spiked but energy dropped, unlike 2008.

All charts made with Python/Power BI. Full methodology on GitHub:

https://github.com/enesbakiadem/Recession-Pop