'Tis the season: Music-Playlist preferences for the seasons

Abstract

Previous research on contextual correlates of musical taste have considered microlevel influences extensively, but they have yet to consider macrolevel factors, such as time of year. The literature concerning seasonal correlates of mood and behavior suggests that colder weather is associated with low activity and a reflective cognitive style, whereas warmer weather is associated with higher activity levels. Analyses of the season-based music-playlist preferences of 402 participants as measured by their ratings of 24 adjectival descriptors of music indicated 3 dimensions: Arousing, Serene, and Melancholy. Findings demonstrate listener preferences for Arousing music for the warmer months, Serene music for spring, and Melancholy music for the cooler months. Consequently, these findings demonstrate that the nature of seasonal correlates of musical taste reflect the broader literature on the former, and more generally, that macrolevel factors are associated with musical taste and listening behaviors.