Personal taste is a defining factor of daily music choice, but other influences can play a part as well. Things like culture, geographical location, and time of day or season can influence the type of music we play on a regular basis. This goes beyond the simplicity of playing Christmas music at Christmastime, and delves into a realm of more nuanced data.
In 2018, a paper was published in the journal Nature Human Behavior that looked through Spotify data from 2016 to determine listening patterns among subsets of users. The preliminary results, documented by PhD students at Cornell, found several ways to group listeners based on their music choices.
One of the variables that the paper tracked among users in 51 countries was based on music intensity. This ranged from “highly relaxing (acoustic, instrumental, ambient, and flat or low tempo) to highly energetic (strong beat, danceable, loud, and bouncy).”
The results showed that listeners tended to put on lower-intensity music in the mornings. Closer to traditional work hours, the intensity would increase before staying steady throughout the day. In the evenings, music intensity would level out again into gentle, low-tempo songs.
How do geographical location and culture factor into music choice?
The data also presented interesting cultural and gender findings as well. According to the paper, users in Latin America favored more energetic, high intensity music on average. In contrast, average users in Asian countries gravitated toward more relaxing tracks.
Additionally, women located in the Northern Hemisphere listened to less intense music. However, women in the Southern Hemisphere preferred high tempo music instead.
Sure, it sounds like some sort of stereotype or unconscious bias. But overall, the data presents interesting findings when it comes to personal influences. Our cultures, socialization, jobs, daily activities, and so much more have a direct link to the music we choose to listen to at any given time.
However, things get more in depth as the data revealed that music choices varied by length of day as well. For example, near the Equator, there weren’t as many fluctuations in tempo or intensity throughout the year. In the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, which see much more variation in day length, there were many more changes in music intensity.
While it’s not a perfect study—large datasets contain a lot of noise, according to a report from ArsTechnica—there were still many interesting findings. Changing seasons were reflected in distinct music choices, from more dance music in the summer to more acoustic songs in the fall. For more accurate study of this idea, ArsTechnica posited that lab work would have to be done. Still, as far as basic findings go, it’s interesting to note that people often love patterns.
Photo by Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images
The post Culture, Latitude, and Time of Day Can Influence Our Music Choices appeared first on VICE.
