2010
Can Music Change or Influence Human Behavior? A look into personal consumption patterns of music relative to behavior and preference Music and its use, Music Preferences, Music and Behavior, Effect of music of mood and emotion and its application on Music marketing and selection of Genres. Artist Preference and Audience perception of genres. Rise of Hip Hop and Rap. Rise of Internet as music source, Relevance to our ventures ………
Koustubh Bhattacharya and Hiral Ravatia MICA-EDC PGPCME 9/11/2010
Contents
Introduction ..................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................... .. 3 Literature review ......................................................................... ..................................................................................................................................... ............................................................ 4 Hypothesis: ...................................................................... ........................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................... .. 5 The need and application of the research in i n the Venture. ............................................................... ................................................................. .. 5 Methodology and Design ............................................................................................. ........................................................................................................................ ........................... 7 Findings and Di scussion from the research and its relevance to our respective ventures: ................... 8 An Argument ........................................................................................................................... ......................................................................................................................................... .............. 14 Discussion and Conclusion ........................................................................................... .................................................................................................................... ......................... 17 Appendix .............................................................. .................................................................................................................................... ................................................................................. ........... 20 Transcripts of subjective questions. ............................................................. ................................................................................................. .................................... 20 Sources.................................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................................. 23
Introduction
Out of all the prehistoric discoveries such as fire and the ability to speak there is also something that is equally important.It is our ability to make music. Ever since our ancestors played the first few intended set of melodic notes, music has played an important role in the evolution of human beings. As the cranial volumes of the early man increased and our capabilities to comprehend, appreciate and produce music has improved, music has influenced our thoughts, emotions and at some points even our beliefs. The purpose of this research is to observe and to find out the factors within music and its applications that influence people and also to determine the extent of the influence on human behaviour. As for the present project the scope of research is limited to the influence of popular music in general environments like work space, recreation space and some other cases. The research is focused to explain the preference of popular music and its effects on youth in these environments. To establish the effect of preference of music on the music-market and consumption of music some part of the research is directed towards music aggregators and their role in defining preferences. Also the research tries to find out the needs and gratifications of youth aged 20 to 30 years as compared to five years ago through music. The effect of music on emotions and its relevance on preference and especially the rise of hip-hop and rap music is the second finding that is established.
Literature review
There are many aspects of music that might influence a person and change in behaviour. on a more external note the music is surely found to alter mood (Alpert & Alpert, 1990, Bruner, 1990) and hence the presence of background music is found to alter the way people perceive a message, for example an ad (Gorn, 1982; Bruner, 1990; Alpert & Alpert, 1991; Kellaris, Cox & Cox, 1993; Roehm, 2001). Apart from mood studies on music there are various researches establishing the effect of tonal and compositional factors of music on consumer behaviour such as factors like timber(the texture and feel of the music), rhythm (the note progression and pattern) and tempo (the rate of the progression) Bruner (1990). There are evidences about the relationship of tempo of the music with the consumption pattern of service environments (Kellaris and Kent, 1991; Roballey, McGreen, Rongo, Schwantio, and Stiger, 1985). Research by Herrington (1996) tried to establish the connection between time spent by supermarket consumer and the tempo and volume of music and found that there was not a significant relation, rather the preference of music played an important role. In some researches the influence on behaviour is categorised under high-arousal music (loud, erratic and tough to predict) and low arousal (soft, monotonous, and predictable) (Berlyne, 1971). Berlyne (1967) had tried to find a relationship between arousal and pleasure while proposing the optimal stimulation level (OSL). The research on the consumer behaviour of restaurant patrons one observation came out quite unexpectedly that although the tempo of the music influenced some overt change in mood when considered individually but was insignificant when taken into account along with the preference of the consumer (Caldwell, Clare, Hibbert, Sally A.
2002). As such the only emergent factor for bringing change in behaviour is found to be the music preference of a consumer.
Hypothesis: The need and application of the research in the Venture.
In this age of communication the preferences of music have started changing rapidly. In a constant quest for finding new music internet has become an unavoidable tool. With the advent of i-tunes and internet radio the mode of transaction is shifting to online. People are searching, listening, reviewing, recommending and sharing music online way more that they used to do five years back. Clearly the music industry is changing alongside the technology. Today’s audience is both aware and concerned about their favourite music
and musicians and the digital medium is making them like that. Online social media has taken music to a very personal level. Myspace and Youtube which primarily deals with the content has made possible to share music legally free while enga ging the audience through subscription base and podcasts. Textual Social media networks like Facebook and twitter have a different purpose. They are used more to establish a continuous and more personal two way communication between audience and artist through discussions, opinion polls, and insights behind their music and personal lives. But as the volume of music increases presence of music becomes scattered so does the information about the music. On an average a person has to go through several review sites searching through keywords for their favourite music and musicians. Most of the times these review sites have only stand alone descriptions rather than reviews. The reviews are almost never backed up by expert
critics, there are no discussions or mass participation and charts are always missing. With the rise of electronic and hip hop music alongside alternative and independent artists the availability of music has exceeded the capacity of people to follow and thus needs an aggregator in the form of a review engine that can provide clear cut reviews, ratings and Charts. Well the focus here is the non bollywood/film music audience of south-east Asia. The need is to identify the genres, preferences and the listening patterns of people to determine the nature of the proposed aggregator website. We also have to determine the way people explore and discover new kind of music so that it can be designed to act like that channel. Above all it is required to understand the affinity of different people and groups towards different music so that the music genres can be better classified and segmented on an aggregator site. One important intention behind this research is to indirectly find out the extent of influence that can be exercised through an aggregator site on the music preference of people.
Although the influence of music on behaviour and its effect on people’s preference of
music is said to be related but it is quite difficult to quantify this and clearly describe the mechanism that how it happens and to what extent it is possible is debatable. The study on this research took us to the area of mood, emotions and experience. The change in music preference over a long period of time, in this case 5 years is something that can be explored to establish a correlation between temporary mood shift and long term behaviour.
Methodology and Design
The research was intended for a target of age 20 to 30. Sample was chosen randomly and size was taken as 34. The respondents were casually asked to answer the questions in a way they thought about music to keep it simple. The responses were promised to be kept concealed. The questionnaire was created on Google Docs and was mailed to each respondent separately. Every response was recorded on the spreadsheet and the data was turned into graphs on Google Docs.
As per the objectives of the research and the literature review, a questionnaire was designed. The questionnaire included 14 Questions. 12 questions were obje ctive and were mandatory. 2 questions were subjective but were to be answered only if respondents agreed on certain beliefs which were very personal in nature. Out of 12 objective questions 3 were on likert Scale. 8 were multiple choice checkbox type questions Q3 and Q4 were designed to find out the respondents music exposure pattern. Q6 is designed in a manner so as to find the nature in which the respondents were affected from their preference of music. The spectrum of emotions was formed in clusters to broadly classify the effect of music on the respondents. Q7 was a Grid type question trying to define personality traits of respondents 5 years ago compared to now Q5 and Q12 are specifically designed to quantize the change in preferences over last 5 years.
Findings and Discussion from the research and its relevance to our respective ventures:
Places where people most likely listen to music for personal consumption are mainly in a Car, while travelling,partying, and excercising, (For Koustubh: since these are the broad categories in an agregator categories can be created for Car, travel, party , workout, other than regular genre reviews. Creation of these categories will make browsing , selecting and reviewing music very easy as it will be categorically organized accordingly. Which will make the website user friendly and easy to browse.) (For Hiral : The venture is all about creating music, musicians, Branding musicians, developing new genres and finally marketing them to the right audience. Hence, it is first important to know where does “youth” essentially listen to music and what medium they prefer to listen to music?)
Technology has provided the consumers today with enumorous mediums to listen to music. Our findings reveal that majority of the people today listens to music on Desktops and laptops, cell phones, i-pod and portable music devices, respecively.( Relevancefor Koustubh:
with these findings it can be said that an agregator should also look at
developing mobile phone applications, desktop and laptop widgets, applications for i-pod and other portable devices to generate an auto review of any track which is being downloaded onto these gadgets. Relevancefor Hiral : these findings reveal that cell phone, i-pods & portable music devices, and internet radio & websites can be treated and developed as a new channels for distribution of new content, marketing tie ups and as awarness platform in case of a new genre, artist or band)
Can music preferences change over a period of time? to understand the same we divided music genres into 14 different categories which consisted from Indian classical to Electronic music according to our findings maximum respondants were listening to recent bollywood, Indian pop, POP and 60’s bollywood whil e very few preferred listening to rock n roll,
electronic, heavy metal and folk music five years ago.
we are aware that personal music consumption is more relevant with individual preferences. Hence, we tried to explore if the respondants preferences have changed in due course of time or does it remain stagnant? As per the our research we found out that there was a significant rise in consumption of electronic music which stands as the most consumed and emerging music genre amongst the respondants at 47%, second highest being world music/recreation/spiritual category at 44% and third most popular and rapidly growing genre is considered to be Hip-Hop/Rap/Urban music at 41%. Every other genre showed substantial to marginal increase in consump tiom. However , 60’s bollywood music , Indian POP, recent bollywood and POP music showed sharp decline in personal consumption as compared to what respondants used to listen to five years ago. (Relevance for Koustubh : As it is already established that Electronic, Hip-Hop, World Music and every other genre are on the rise amongst indian audience so the positioning of the agregator can be done accordingly making it one of the few in the country whose core
focus will be on genre other than bollywood and its sub branches. Relevance for Hiral : After observing the the shift in the trend of the consumption pattern of the various genres focus will be on discovering, developing and marketing artists in the Electronic, Hip-Hop and world music category.)
As we already know though music industry reports of many countries that Hip-hop has become a truly global cultural phenomenon and has already shown a remarkable longevity as a musical genre. Hip-hop is increasingly pervasive and is probably the best selling music in the world – the biggest purveyors of rap music are young white men. Like many genres HipHop too has evolved and continues to provoke debate, not just over its subject content, but what is real hip hop, about over-commercialization. Hip-hop as a genre has always been socio-political, hip hop has addressed social deprivation and sought to reflect the harsh realties of urban America and it continues to be rife with contradictions and many of these are referred to throughout the encyclopedia. Hip-hop remains highly sexist, misogynistic and homophobic despite the efforts of De La Soul, West and others. Criminality, drugs,
materialism, gangsterism, cars, anti-Semitism, the culture of bragging and violence remain recurring themes and sit side-by-side with more positive subject matter such as humor, ethnicity, the role of the “mother”, fashion, the family, the neighborhood, community
values and entrepreneurialism. The question here is the relationship between preference for rap music and involvement in a culture of crime and their perceptions of social injustice and inequity. Do rap or urban music enthusiasts report significantly more delinquent behavior and stronger feelings of inequity and injustice than listeners with other musical tastes? One of the aspects of this survey was done amongst youth of Indian origin to understand how they described themselves as. Amongst all the behavioural traits discussed most people tend to believe that they were on the positive spectrum five years ago. Do our respondents too feel that they have a strong liking for rap music because it is valuing the fact that it spoke to their everyday concerns about growing up in a poorly resourced community?
The only behavioural traits where a majority of respondents agreed that they were not sure or were more on the negative spectrum of behaviour were Demanding, Patient, Calm, and Even-Tempered.
An Argument During the literature review done before setting up this survey we found that Examinations of audience receptions of rap are not numerous and have been of two main kinds: a few studies have explored how young people perceive and evaluate the music, while others have studied the harmful effects of rap by trying to link consumption of the music with various negative consequences. An early study by Kuwahara (1992) finds rap to be more popular with black than white college students, and more popular among males than females. However, reasons for liking the music varied little by race, with both black and white audience members prioritizing the beat over the message. A more recent study by Sullivan (2003) reports few racial differences in liking the music, although black teenagers were more committed to the genre and more likely to view rap as life affirming (Berry 1994) than those from other racial backgrounds.In a small but important study conducted in California, Mahiri and Connor (2003) investigated 41 black middle school students' perceptions of violence and thoughts about rap music. In focus group sessions and personal interviews, informants revealed a strong liking for rap music, valuing the fact that it spoke to their everyday concerns about growing up in a poorly resourced community. They did not, however, like the way that rap music on occasion (mis) represented the experiences of black people in the United States. They challenged the misogyny evident in some rap videos and
rejected what they saw as the glamorization of violence. Overall, their critical and nuanced engagement with rap music fitted poorly with depictions of media audiences as easily swayed by popular culture (Sacco 2005).The search for the harmful effects of rap music has yielded no more definitive results than earlier quests for media effects. While some studies report evidence of increased violence, delinquency, substance use, and unsafe sexual activity resulting from young people's exposure to rap music (Wingood et al. 2003; Chen et al. 2006), other researchers have failed to find such a link or have exercised extreme caution when interpreting apparent links. One review of the literature, conducted in the 1990s, could find a total of only nine investigations-all of themsmall-scale, none involving the general adolescent population-and concluded that there was an even split between those that found some sort of an association between exposure to the music and various deviant or undesirable outcomes, and those that could find no connection at all Moreover, in those studies where the music and the wrongdoing were linked, investigators were very circumspect about whether or not they were observing a causal relationship, and if so, which came first, the music or the violent dispositions (Tatum 1999). A mote recent investigation conducted in Montreal is illustrative of such interpretative problems. While a preference for rap was found to predict deviant behavior among 348 French- speaking adolescents, causal ordering could not be established, nor an additional possibility ruled out: that other factors might be responsible for both the musical taste and the deviant behavior (Miranda and Claes 2004).The notion that rap is or can be represented as cultural resistance-the counter frame identified by Binder-has become increasingly prominent in the rap litera- ture over the past 20 years (Rose 1994; Krims 2000; Keyes 2002; Quinn 2005). In his influential book, Why White Kids Love Hip Hop: Wankstas, Wiggers, Wannabes, and the new Reality ofRace in America, Kitwana (2005) expounds at length on his emancipatory view
of rap's history and development. Kitwana sees hip-hop as a form of protest music, offering its listeners a message ofresistance. He also makes the additional claim that the resistive appeal of hip-hop is not restricted to black youth.Indeed, as the tide of his book suggests, he is particularly interested in the patronage of rap music by white youth, those young people who might be seen as the contemporary equivalents of Mailer's "White Negro" or Keys' "Negro Wannabes."(Keyes 2002:250) In his view, the global diffusion of rap rests on the music's capacity for resonating with the experiences ofthe downtrodden and marginalized in a variety of cultural contexts. Quinn (2005) similarly explains the crossover appeal of gang-sta rap in the United States in terms ofthe "common sensibilities and insecurities shared by post Fordist youth." She continues: "many young whites, facing bleak labor market prospects, were also eager for stories about fast money and authentic belonging to ward off a creeping sense of placelessness and dispossession."(Quinn2005:85-86) Thus, rap's appeal is as much about class as it is about race. Nor is the resistive view of rap restricted to the North American continent. At least one French study-conducted in advance ofthe riots in the fall of 2005 –hasnoted how French Rap has become the music of choice for young people of visible minority descent who have grown up in the suburban ghettos (Les Cities) of major cities. They have been routinely exposed to police harassment on the streets, subjected to prejudice and discrimination at school, and struggled to find decent housing and appropriate jobs (Bouchier 1999, cited in Miranda and Claes 2004).The idea that popular music might serve as an important reference point for rebellious or resistive adolescents is not a new one.
Discussion and Conclusion Based on the above mentioned agrument we were curious to know how Indian Youth feel after consuming popular music that according to media and few researcher is agrressive and provocative in a negative way. To our susprise and contrary to the litreture review we found out that majority of our respondants i.e. 85% who now consume popular music like Hip-Hop/Rap/ Electronica feel happy, ecstatic, euphoric and humorous. Subsequently the second majority felt powerful/incontrol/energetic.
Further to our findings it was established through this survey that 44% of our respondents agreed and 35 % strongly agreed that popular music does influence their behaviour temporarily as compared to only a 3% who did not agree to the same.
The larger part of respondents said that they started listening to new music and new artists as referred to them by their friends. That is about 85% of the whole sample and
thus music still is a point of discussion and a lot of music is shared amongst the peers. This is especially relevant to the ventures as it is obvious that both the aggregator and the artists have to approach music consumers in a more personal way so that the propagation of a genre and music happens through friend networks. Word of mouth will happen only when people find a deeper, friendlier connection to both the music and the artists. The second large majority of people (68%) sited internet as their source to new music. Hence internet is surely the next big venue for artists. Now using internet to create an engagement with the audience on a close level is something that the artists will have to look into. Amazingly the TV audience does not seem to find much new music which is alarming. Only 26% people say that TV is a source of new music. It is either that people don’t watch TV music channels or the TV music channels are only playing limited set of
syndicated music while audience is shifting to more indie music available elsewhere. In both the cases it is alarming for music channels. While a higher preference of Radio (about 32%) seems promising for this media.
Finally we wanted to know if our respondents too believed if music can change or influence behaviour to which majority of the seemed to agree but how ever could not explain how and in what way? All we can say is that this belief should come from personal experience and how the respondents feel when they listen to music. Surely it is the collective of the beliefs that music helps in suppressing negative emotions, creates positive
feelings, provides outlet, improves focus, reduces dullness in mundane tasks. This belief is crucial in attracting the audience if only we can cater the right kind of music.
Attached in the excel sheet respondents have expressed which song brings about a certain emotion in them.
Submitted by
Koustubh Bhattacharya/ roll # 17 Hiral Ravatia/ roll # 14
Appendix Transcripts of subjective questions.
Immidiate after listening to music does its beat, rhythm, harmony or lyrics influence your behaviour temporarily ? If you agree to the above question please give an example If I'm feeling low and listen to music, my spirits are lifted. i feel elevated after i listen to rock music and am attracted to the lyrics to some extend. I used to work hard on a subject immediately after listening to teen motivational songs like "jo jeeta wahi sikander" While listening to In Aakhon ki Masti, the lyrics made me think about deeper meanings and sent me into a thinking state...... I get more emotional. MJ rules NA Disagree Gazal make me to feel calm and compose. my music lessons during my board exams was my only vent, and i had stopped all forms of recreation, but not my music classes when the exams were on. mood swings NA Last time when I was quiet disturbed about my job, music was a panacea I am not sure.... Maybe some times but that is rarely.... I calm down if I am angry. i tend to relate the genre of the music to some thing or the other in my personal life, like my relation, friends, my feelings, sentiments etc. i was listenin to happy songs....and suddenly some irritant friend came in... and i dint get angry on her....i was calm and patient.... if i listen to inspiring songs or patriotic songs.....i feel like doing somethin inspiring as well....i get goosebumps.... it definately does effect a person... I feel much more calm and composed.... i can concentrate better.... Yes you feel upbeat...gyming is the best example....music is like water...it pumps in extra energy...makes you run a mile longer I get mad and start head banging when I listen to Linkin park, some heavy rock music, and I get equally mad and start dancing when it comes to typical punjabi songs, I mean core punjabi, also mixed with the hip hop. wen am feeling low it peps me up Piya re by nusrat fateh ali khan come home by ari crest it gets my mind to de stress and concentrate on happy feelings and emotions. It elevates my mood everytime I am in the dumps When I am in a sad or low mood, i listen to music to liven the mood. That should not be a compulsory question! I disagree!!! listening to fast music gave me the urge to go running... feel better if im stressed
Listening to Aerosmith I some how let out my frustration about being a misfit i do not remember if i am angry or feeling low. listening to my favorite music helps me calm down and think with a clearer head.. helps me sort out things better Listening to Enya soothes you down and washes down all my blues and relieves me of stress.
If you agree in above question, with an example of your favourite song please tell us whether music has influenced your behaviour in certain way The song "Summer 0f 69" made me get in touch with my friends after i got introduced to electronic music by a few friends a whole new dimension opened for me.. professionally i stumbled upon a world of opportunities and lifestyle. This music has brought about a very futuristic approach in my way of thinking. I have grown to love rock music and like the song 'stairway to heaven". I think I have become more tolerant of people the way they are. Whenever mettalica is playing in my vicinity i tend to get a headache and hence have to leave the room.......creating friction in my relationships..... Heal the world, makes me want to do more for people and calms me down, makes me forgive people Na Not Sure. Yaro dosti badi hi hasin hai reminds me about my frds. Woh purani jeans and Guitar- brings smile over my face and reminds me my past student life. song dedications over email are the best way to make up after a fight, as far as i am concerned 8 mile - eminem,,,competitive spirit NA Yes. "Yellow" by coldplay always makes me believe in love whenever I am insecure about it Some of the bollywood songs make sense and I have started appreciating Pakistan as a country for the kind of music sense they have and I admire them. It is now a famous therapy and it's advantages are proven beyond doubt. they tend to influence my mood swings ek din aap - yes boss: it makes you fall in love saiyan - kailash kher: if you replace the word saiyan with god.....then u fall in love with god... actually there a lot...but cant remember exact perfect one sorry infected mashrooms... any track... awesome concentration.... zombie... cranberries... sense of humanity and answers to many questions about self... Music is very powerful....one of my friend seemed very upset n in utter depression....he claimed he did a music therapy and recovered like anything....dont hav much details on dis...but music rocks...it can do wonders... Well yes, I listen to songs from lakshya, iqbaal and lagaan when I am depressed and I get over my depression and feel motivated, i listen to Linkin park when I get back from playing TT and it suits my mood because I am all fired up at that point of time. When I am emotionally hurt or had a quarrel with some one I hear some very aggressive songs, some hard core metal to channelize my frustration out. songs help me get over my bad mood The chants of krishna: The expressionism in dance ever since i started listening to sufi music by nusrat fateh ali khan has made me even more calm and
composed. i have started feeling sensitive abt few things that i never considered thinking abt. Songs about struggle like some of the Rap songs i listen to inspire me to try harder to achieve in my life. See response above NA same as above I care less about trivial issues in life It helps me relax and brings down the anxiety levels Leaving on a jet plane song always reminds me of the agony of departing from your loved ones.
Sources Audience Personality and the Selection of Media and Media Genres - Alice Hall, MEDIA PSYCHOLOGY 2005,Vol. 7, 377 –398
The Influence of Music Tempo and Musical Preference on Restaurant Patrons' Behavior Clare Caldwell and Sally A. Hibbert; Psychology & Marketing, Vol. 19( 11): 895-917 (November 2002) Music, Mood, and Marketing - Gordon C. Bruner II; Journal of Marketing, October 1990 Rock Music Videos and Antisocial Behavior - Christine Hall Hansen and Ranald D. Hansen; BASIC AND AJf'PLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, 1990, 77(4), 357-369
Budd, Malcolm (1985), Music and the Emotions. London: Routledge and Kegan-Paul
