As if we didn't know before, but here is a study confirming it.
People not involved in parish music ministry (or whatever you want to call it) consistently said that the things that make it easy to sing in church are music that is familiar and music that is simple. People who are involved in said ministry consistently put these at the bottom of the ranking, and "leadership of organ or instruments" at the top, along with other things most people don't really care about that much, such as whether the song is thematically linked to the liturgy of the day or season. Normal people were also more likely to value "traditional" music than music directors, although music directors dismiss this, chalking it up to a familiarity issue. Let's hope they take some hints.
Perhaps I will elaborate on why I think these results are the way they are - for instance, why most people do not find that a "meaningful text" helps them to sing the music, but why musicians would think it would. I think I am in a good position to comment because although I am a huge geek who geeks out on everything he's interested in, including music (and liturgy), and have had the privilege to study and perform in settings appropriate to those headed for a career in music, I am not a professional-level trained musician and thus remember what it's like to be a "normal" person about music (in no small part because I have not freed myself entirely from the limitations associated thereto). Nor am a liturgist, meaning that I reside closer to real life than to la-la land (my apologies to all the good liturgists out there).
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