Why do we listen to music? A uses and gratifications analysis

Abstract

Four 'uses and gratifications' studies investigated peoples' reasons for listening to music (Study 1); and whether these reasons differ significantly from those associated with other leisure activities (Study 2). In Study 3, an open-ended, qualitative research design was used to investigate why people listen to music. In Study 4, a cross-sectional design was used to investigate the possibility that people of different ages might listen to music for different reasons. Findings showed that there are a number of reasons why participants listen to music, comparison of which indicated that participants listen to music primarily to manage/regulate their moods. Comparison with other leisure activities indicated that for the most part, listening to music was rated better than other leisure activities at serving an individual's different needs. This versatility may explain why music is so important to people. Evidence was also found to suggest that the reasons for listening to music may change as people grow older.

Musebaq

“…The Music Use Inventory (Lonsdale & North, 2011) is a 31-item questionnaire asking participants to share how important music is in their lives, and then to rate 30 items on how well they described why they listen to music. In this study, two items only from the identity subscale (''I listen to music to create an image for myself'' and ''I listen to music to portray a particular image to others'') were used to test the Identity subscale from Module 4, and to avoid repetition with other items from other questionnaires administered.…”

“…Several are quite targeted in their focus, for instance with the Music in Mood Regulation questionnaire (MMR; Saarikallio, 2008) Chin & Rickard, 2012b), the Music Use Inventory (MUI; Lonsdale & North, 2011) and the brief version of the Music Experience Questionnaire (BMEQ; Werner, Swope, & Heide, 2006). Importantly, there is considerable overlap in the factors emerging from each of these instruments-for instance, with affective functions, innovative/engaged production, identity functions, and social functions emerging quite consistently.…”

Hidden sources of joy, fear, and sadness: Explicit versus implicit neural processing of musical emotions

“…However, this induction and regulation typically occurs when music is playing in the background and one is occupied with another primary activity. In one study, about 76% of participants reported music listening as an accompaniment to their primary activity (Lonsdale & North, 2011). The presence and type of music played in the background during purchasing can affect consumer behavior without the consumers' awareness of it (Milliman, 1982(Milliman, , 1986.…”

The uses and gratifications of using Facebook music listening applications

“…The gratifications may even mirror those associated with broad SNS use as it involves communication as well: this might manifest as gratifications related to sharing information and interacting with other users through this specific site feature. It is possible that the entertainment reason may be a stronger reason for usage of apps, because a highly cited reason for listening to music is, in fact, for entertainment or as a diversion (Lonsdale & North, 2011). However, because this involves music listening, a popular pastime in its own right, there could be unique reasons for using music listening apps MUSIC APP USES & GRATIFICATIONS 7 within the Facebook platform.…”

“…However, because this involves music listening, a popular pastime in its own right, there could be unique reasons for using music listening apps MUSIC APP USES & GRATIFICATIONS 7 within the Facebook platform. For example, Lonsdale and North (2011) showed that offline music listening has social psychological uses and gratifications (including, for example, projecting the individual's identity to others), and so similar factors might well also be identified in SNS music listening.…”