Music has always been the universal language. No matter what country of origin, listeners are able to distinguish an emotional presence and overall feeling from the melodies, rhythm, and movement of the song. So this got me thinking about the overlooked behavior of choosing music when we have those emotional moments. What makes people put on certain songs? Specifically, when you are feeling sad, happy or angry, does the listener choose music to lift them out of that emotion or stay present in that mindset. I decided to set out get some answers!
The Psychology behind music selection
A lot of different choices can be made based on mood. Picture this, two people are having the exact same awful of a day then return to their respective places of living. They decide they want to decompress their day by turning on their speaker and putting on some music. Regardless of them going through the same awful day, even then, they would still most likely choose music from opposite sides of the spectrum. One might put on more of a Midwest Emo/EmoViolence/ Emo Hardcore and sit in their respective emotions and ride it out. The other might put on more 80s New Wave/ Synth Pop/ Goth Rock and dance it out right there in their living rooms to exert that awful day away. Why does this happen? I wanted to find out what music listeners choose based on their moods.
Instagram poll results
I took to my instagram, posted some polls on my story, and gathered my own data. These polls were centered around 3 major emotions. Sadness, Happiness, and Anger. Respondents were asked about their music choices when experiencing any of those three emotions. Do they choose music that matches the mood or do they choose music that pulls them out of that given emotion. About an average of 50 users participated in the research below. Heres what I found.
Sadness
First up, we have everyone’s good old companion, sadness. When asked about what music they choose, most people chose music that matches their mood. This means they are pressing play on the tunes that make them shed a tear or amplify those sad thoughts. In this way, they’re riding the wave and getting off it when they feel ready to. I think it is important to think about how a lot of the music in the mainstream, regardless of the genre, has a reoccurring run in with sadness. Whether this would be with an Electronic Pop hit about a breakup or a Indie Rock song about hating your 9-5, that all point to the same baseline of sadness. It’s a more normalized emotion within the music sphere and in our everyday and one to be processed, this is where music is often the helpful tool. When in comes to the other 19 percent in the poll, they are the ones to put the tunes to get them out of the pit of sadness. This would consist of upbeat, pop, bright songs to pump up the energy to move through it.
Happiness
When respondents were asked about they hit play on when it comes to happiness, there was also a huge gap that presented itself across the data. It appears that when users felt that they were having a good energy in their day where they felt energetic, happy, and joyful most users wanted to continue that vibe with some tunes to encourage rather than mellowing themselves out. In this instance more fast paced, high energy, bright songs would be in the rotation rather than some stripped back, calm, and grounded songs. This again would be another emotion that would be normalized in our mainstream with songs being used to get us hyped up and happy. This would be considered a more accepted emotion alongside sadness to be able to process through music in a healthy way. Feeling warm, joyful, and excited? Great put on some ABBA!
Anger
Here’s where it gets interesting! Given that the previous polls had a rather huge gap between the answers, this one was actually cutting it quite close. When users were asked about moments where they felt Angry, 55% of them said they would much rather choose music to continue on the rage. 45% said they wanted to put something on that would help them calm down and get to a better headspace. I think with the other emotions in the study, I can’t help but notice how Anger is more of the emotion that is not as easily accepted in the mainstream and in our everyday. It’s violent, its dark, and it can be visceral. As we should know, Anger can and is a healthy emotion to experience yet many user were wanted to choose music to calm them down and contrast the anger overall. When it comes to the choices for matching the mood this could consist of Hardcore, Metal, and maybe even a sprinkle of something Punk adjacent. Those wanting to calm themselves down are going more for the soft and mellow tones of Jazz, Acoustic, or Folk.
Let’s Rewind
At the end of the day, music choice is all subjective and changes from person to person! As mentioned previously, but two people feeling the same emotion and going through the same type of day, won’t neccessarilay mean that they will end up choosing the same music to decompress after a long day. That in of itself is really interesting! The main take away from this study was really the curiosity of how people make their moody music choices and present the findings. This is to get us to be a bit more aware of what we hit play on when we are feeling emotional. Do we go with the flow or go against it?
Moody Playlists
To finish things off here are some of some playlists of songs from my personal library that I would put on for when I fell Happy, Sad or Angry. When comparing myself to the results, I am definitely more of the listener to choose music that matches the mood entirely. I think this is a pretty good representation of myself but I encourage you to make some playlists to have ready when those emotional moments happen!
VC Social 