Earlier this month, a Twitter user noted that members of the band MUNA appear to always stand in the same order.

has anyone else noticed that muna are always in the same order, it’s always Naomi on the left, katie in the middle, and josette on the right, in literally everything, in pictures, and even on stage

— andromeda🌷✪ (@LASTWINTRBREAK) June 23, 2024

The order, according to Twitter user andromeda on June 23, has singer Katie Gavin at the centre, with multi-instrumentalist Naomi McPherson on the left and lead guitarist Josette Maskin on the right, from the perspective of the viewer.

It’s “in literally everything, in pictures, and even on stage,” wrote andromeda. Another Twitter user speculated that it was “on purpose.”

An investigation by Columbia University's Lede Program examined every picture the band has ever posted on Instagram. It revealed that while the band does not actually always stand in the same order, they do it a lot.

Out of 174 photos posted on the band's Instagram over a four-year span, the band stood in this order in 47% of them.

This number—when plugged into a binomial distribution calculator—suggests that the band members "don't choose their order randomly," said Dr. Debra Borkovitz, a clinical professor of mathematics and mathematics education at Boston University, over email.

Generally, standing in the same order means "less cognitive load, one less decision to make," said Dr. Borkovitz. She speculated that social reasons could be a reason why people stand in specific positions, ranging from relationship dynamics ("maybe two people don't like each other, so never stand together") to the fact that "people just get used to something."

The band responded via spokesperson, over email: “Honest answer is that it likely originated from our stage setup and just translated from there as we got more comfortable being in certain setups. It’s not 100% of the time but they’re right, it’s very consistent.”

This consistency is more apparent when it comes to the individual preferences of the band’s members.

Data show that multi-instrumentalist McPherson stood on the left 60% of the time. Singer Gavin was even more determinedly in place, standing in the middle 67% of the time. Most transient of the trio proved to be lead guitarist Maskin, keeping their place on the right just 51% of the time.

“Musicians often stand in the same place on stage because of how they feel it is best to hear and see each other during a performance,” said Dr. Judith Peraino, professor of music and sound studies at Cornell University, over email.

They take instruments and sound tech set up into account, according to Dr. Peraino. This same format can be translated into branding and "replicated in publicity photos,” she said.

In photos, “I’ve noticed frontmen and frontwomen often appearing more accentuated" through foregrounding, said Nadine Hubbs, professor of Women’s and Gender Studies and Music, and affiliate in American Culture at The University of Michigan.

She added that “certain artists [such as Taylor Swift, Morrissey and Led Zeppelin] have given fans frequent fodder for obsession, through clues, puzzles, occult references."

Methodology:

The dataset this investigation relies on was built through a photo-by-photo tally of the band's Instagram posts, from May 19, 2021 to June 24, 2024.

Only pictures that included group shots of MUNA, without other people, were included. Pictures that were clearly the same setting were not included, and reposted clips from the band's music videos were not included.

Find the data here.