Music Preferences: Universal Indicators
Music is a part of a social environment and universal means of conveying emotions. Specific elements of music may influence a decision whether or not people like it. Different genres, styles, and characteristics define music preferences with a number of indicators. In fact, people rely generally on a few basic elements to make judgments about music. These elements correlate with cognitive and emotional processes of listeners and influence the formation of positive and negative impressions. Music preferences also relate to a set of auditory indicators. The tempo and individual traits of a character are the main features that influence music preferences.
Music preferences correspond to specific elements that convey emotional messages and trigger certain reactions to a musical work. Emotional effects are among the most common empirical evidence suggesting that a set of indicators may be described in relation to music favorability or disliking. To emphasize this idea, scientists (for example, Greenberg, Madden, McDermott, Swaminathan, and Rentfrow) describe emotional and cognitive elements that constitute music preferences. According to their studies, an emotional-rational basis affects the perception of music while listening. Empirical research establishes parts of the listening process that are responsible for deciding whether a work is liked or disliked. Thus, an individual tries to make sense of content in music (perceptual processing), reacts to it (affective reactivity), interprets elements of music and their relevance (intellectual interpretation), and uses the melody to anticipate emotions and thoughts that music provokes (prediction) (Greenberg et al. 2). It should be noted that there is no pattern that may predict whether a certain song would become favorite. However, studies conducted by scientists in the past demonstrate that musical preferences may be described using a universal model.
MUSIC Model
To address the issue of music preferences, scholars apply various methods to analyze relevant materials. Opinion polls that include answers of independent participants regarding their favorite music are an important part of the process. Obviously, genres and subgenres influence music preferences as well as particular elements of different songs. Various auditory (for example, tempo, timbre, and instrumentation) and psychological (mood) attributes should be considered. Scientists designed a five-factor model to illustrate music preferences. It is known as the MUSIC model which covers five aspects of listening experience, such as Mellow, Unpretentious, Sophisticated, Intense, and Contemporary (Greenberg et al. 2). The model underlies musical preferences on the basis of musical attributes and their configurations. The five-dimensional scale also includes genres but does not depend on genre distinction. The MUSIC model covers various aspects:
1. Mellow music is romantic, slow, relaxing. It can also be sad and quiet. The major attribute of mellow music is its ingressiveness. The main representatives are soft rock and R&B.
2. Unpretentious music is described as soft, unaggressive, and relaxing. It has acoustic attributes present in folk and country music.
3. Sophisticated music is dynamic, inspiring, complex, and intelligent. This dimension relates to classical, jazz, opera, and avant-garde genres.
4. Intense music is characterized by loud sounds. It is distorted and aggressive. Intense aspect may be of punk, heavy metal, power pop, and classic rock genres.
5. Contemporary music is electric and percussive. It includes rap, acid jazz, and electronic genres.
According to the research, people prefer to listen to the combination of Mellow music which consists of the preferences for soul, R&B, and soft rock music (Greenberg et al. 16). This conclusion helps to understand why, for example, a song В“Show Must Go OnВ” by Queen remains popular among millions of people. However, most people dislike Intense music. Therefore, not every individual likes songs of AC/DC. This means that not all people have tolerance to violent and distorted sounds. However, the model does not explain which type of music has the most influence. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish an aspect that has a direct impact on the preferences. The tempo is one of the most important attributes of music that makes people like certain musical pieces and dismiss others.
Tempo
Physical abilities help people to distinguish different tempos. Usually, it is possible to recognize a В“range of tempos from around 40 to 300 beats per minuteВ” (Madden). It may be difficult to identify the patterns of music with the tempo below 40 bpm; the tempo faster than 300 bpm may be perceived as a continuous tone (Madden). Regarding music preferences, people like hearing only a narrow range of tempos.