Week 1 Summary article From the functions of music to music preferences
●The investigation of music preferences consist of two central questions. First, why does one person like
a certain type of music while another prefers a totally different type of music? And second, why do
people differ in their degree of strength of music preferences, which can vary considerably?
●Let us first look at how preferences for a given type of music can be shaped. In a review, it was
concluded that there are several causal factors that can have an impact on music preference: specific
characteristics of the music (tempo, rhythm, pitch, etc.), familiarity and repeated listening, the listener’s
affective experience while listening to music, and social influences.
●Others have found additional factors that can influence music preferences: the personality of the
listener, the listener’s physiological parameters and innate auditory preferences. The age of the listener
also has a strong impact.
●When you look at why people listen to music, the general answers refer to the functions of music,
which means that people use music to reach certain goals and serve their needs.
Functions and benefits of music
●Most of the functions are related to developmental issues, especially for adolescents. Young people
use music to explore, express and tighten their identities and to communicate their personal values,
ambitions, beliefs, and perceptions of the world and themselves. Through music people can try on
different personalities or identities, including desirable ones as well as ones they fear. In this context,
music is also used to establish a symbolic border against other groups to define a (youth) culture of its
own.
●Music can enhance interactions with peers or with a partner, by providing either a medium for
communication and common activities or information about the other through his or her favourite
music.
●People also use music to manage their arousal level or to satisfy their sensation seeking, and music
leads to physical activity through dance
Functions of music and music preference
●Most of the studies that have investigated functions of music have used preferred or favourite music
without considering the degree of preference.
●They hypothesized that the strength of music preference should covary with the intensity of music use:
the better the needs of a listener are served by a given music, the higher the degree of preference for
that music should be
Rationale of present studies
●The first step was to search for commonly known musical styles. Respondents were asked to list all
musical styles known to them. This was done to obtain an overview of known styles to use instead of a
ready made list of styles collected by experts or a researcher, as has often been done. The best known
styles were then identified (study 1).
●The next step was to determine if these styles could be grouped into a few dimensions of music
preference to possibly confirm the results of previous research and to have a starting point for
investigating the functions of music.
●In a series of studies, Rentfrow and Goslin showed that preferences can be grouped into only four
dimensions that reflect central characteristics of the music described: reflective and complex, intense
and rebellious, upbeat and conventional, and energetic and rhythmic.
●The investigation of music preferences consist of two central questions. First, why does one person like
a certain type of music while another prefers a totally different type of music? And second, why do
people differ in their degree of strength of music preferences, which can vary considerably?
●Let us first look at how preferences for a given type of music can be shaped. In a review, it was
concluded that there are several causal factors that can have an impact on music preference: specific
characteristics of the music (tempo, rhythm, pitch, etc.), familiarity and repeated listening, the listener’s
affective experience while listening to music, and social influences.
●Others have found additional factors that can influence music preferences: the personality of the
listener, the listener’s physiological parameters and innate auditory preferences. The age of the listener
also has a strong impact.
●When you look at why people listen to music, the general answers refer to the functions of music,
which means that people use music to reach certain goals and serve their needs.
Functions and benefits of music
●Most of the functions are related to developmental issues, especially for adolescents. Young people
use music to explore, express and tighten their identities and to communicate their personal values,
ambitions, beliefs, and perceptions of the world and themselves. Through music people can try on
different personalities or identities, including desirable ones as well as ones they fear. In this context,
music is also used to establish a symbolic border against other groups to define a (youth) culture of its
own.
●Music can enhance interactions with peers or with a partner, by providing either a medium for
communication and common activities or information about the other through his or her favourite
music.
●People also use music to manage their arousal level or to satisfy their sensation seeking, and music
leads to physical activity through dance
Functions of music and music preference
●Most of the studies that have investigated functions of music have used preferred or favourite music
without considering the degree of preference.
●They hypothesized that the strength of music preference should covary with the intensity of music use:
the better the needs of a listener are served by a given music, the higher the degree of preference for
that music should be
Rationale of present studies
●The first step was to search for commonly known musical styles. Respondents were asked to list all
musical styles known to them. This was done to obtain an overview of known styles to use instead of a
ready made list of styles collected by experts or a researcher, as has often been done. The best known
styles were then identified (study 1).
●The next step was to determine if these styles could be grouped into a few dimensions of music
preference to possibly confirm the results of previous research and to have a starting point for
investigating the functions of music.
●In a series of studies, Rentfrow and Goslin showed that preferences can be grouped into only four
dimensions that reflect central characteristics of the music described: reflective and complex, intense
and rebellious, upbeat and conventional, and energetic and rhythmic.
