Beyond Love at First Listen:

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How to raise interest in new genres?

How to support crowd input and curation in recommendation?

Background, part 1:Open Questions from Past Work

Relate to existing work2

Background, part 2:Music is Everywhere

Video examples?3

Music Technologytechnology

A manner of accomplishing a task especially using technical processes, methods, or knowledge

merriam-webster.comHeadphones by Sascha Kohlmann / CC BY 2.0

THIS SLIDE WILL BE PRESENTED BY CYNTHIA

The words "music & technology" used together; typically devices, means to access music, or ways to produce itThis has lead to people having access to vast libraries of music at any timewe want to say that:-leads to the use of music itself as a technology as an aid to accomplishing tasks4

Music As TechnologyHeadphones by Sascha Kohlmann / CC BY 2.0technology

A manner of accomplishing a task especially using technical processes, methods, or knowledge

merriam-webster.com

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What Music IsWhat Music Does

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Music As Technology

(DeNora, 1999)Headphones by Sascha Kohlmann / CC BY 2.0vary by activitychange internal statesawareness of effects of specific songs

A sociologist by the name of Tia DeNora published a paper in the late 90s called Music As Technology of the Self Where she interviewed people about how they consumed musicAnd observed that:1) above and beyond general preferences, what they listened to varied by activity2) they believed music would alter their internal states in various ways3) they had a clear idea of what selections within their collections would affect their internal states in what way

And they would do this deliberately, using music as a resource7

Music as Accompaniment1hr active listeningvs. 2-4 hrs passive listening (Kamalzadeh, Baur & Moller, 2012)

less than 2% active listening(Sloboda, ONeil & Ivaldi, 2001)

11.6% active listening(North, Hargreaves & Hargreaves, 2004)

Paris metro line 4 at Chtelet during evening rush hour by Minato-Ku/ CC BY-SA 4.0

Social Psychology literature tells a similar storyExperience Sampling showsMusic use is frequentAccompaniment to all manner of activities (commute, workout routine, relaxing in the evening)Rarely the sole focus of an activity

In other words, we consume it passively, while doing other things, like walking through a mall, or during our morning commute

-44% of the surveys were completed while music listening had taken place within any 2-hour period, yet less than 2% of episodes involved listening to music as a main activity (Sloboda, ONeil & Ivaldi, 2001) -38.6% of text messages sent to participants randomly throughout the day occurred during music lis- tening occasions; on occasions where the participants were not listening to music, 48.6% indicated that they had listened to music since the last text message, yet only 11.6% of these episodes occurred when music listening was the main activity (North, Hargreaves & Hargreaves, 2004)

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Music as a Psychological Tool

(North, Hargreaves & Hargreaves, 2004; Sloboda, ONeill & Ivaldi, 2001; DeNora 1999)arousalmoodemotion

Portret van een man by Gert Germeraad / CC BY-SA 3.0

listeners report changes in arousal, mood and emotion even when consuming it passively

And, echoing Tia Denoras observations, It appears to be that listeners use music as psychological tool to optimize internal state based on what they think is needed for a given situation and/or activity using i.e. working out, studying, relaxing etc.9

Music as a Psychological Tool

Portret van een man by Gert Germeraad / CC BY-SA 3.0Preference for tailored playlists(Kamalzadeh, Baur & Moller, 2012)

Greater positive effects(North, Hargreaves & Hargreaves, 2004))

Present-mindedness and arousal(Sloboda, ONeill & Ivaldi, 2001)

It appears to be a very deliberate practiceListeners seem to prefer very specifically tailored playlists vs. automatically generated playlistsAnd report more positive effects, present mindedness and control over their arousal when the individuals had the ability to choose the desired music- This might mean that more specific control allows us to better optimize our internal states

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Music and the BrainBrain stem responsesRhythmic entrainmentEvaluative conditioningContagionVisual imageryEpisodic memoryMusical expectancyAesthetic judgment

BRECVEMA model (Juslin, 2013)Brain Human Brain by pixabay / CC0 1.0

Another way to say this is to say that;-within the constellation of their music preferences-listeners choose music that has specific features that affect our brains and bodies in specific ways-this allows this optimization based on their activity

There are many debates over the many ways that music affects the brain and the body

I discuss one briefly that suggests there may be some universal features that we select for:e.g. The brain stem is believed to be a very old part of the brain, and has been shown to be sensitive to loud, low frequency, dissonant, suddenly changing sounds-if theres a sudden noise in our environment, it might signal danger-music with lots of events like sudden bursts of sound is more likely to cause arousal and to draw attention to the music-on the other hand, music that is more constant might instead serve to drown out distracting ambient sounds, and allow us to focus on a task at hand11

FlowComplete focusBalance of skill and challengeIntrinsically rewardingLoss of sense of selfLoss of sense of time

(see Nakamura, & Csikszentmihalyi, 2004)

Challenge vs. skill, showing flow region by Oliver Beatson / CC BY-SA 3.0

We may be able to take this a step further and say that people are aiming to use music to create the conditions for an optimal stateOne researcher, Csikszentmihalyi described such a state-Flow is characterized as a mental state in which:Complete attention focused on a task, the task is challenging enough not to bore, but not so much that it triggers anxietyperforming the task itself is positive and rewarding so completely that one has lost sense of self and of time,

If it sounds kind of nebulous and vauge, thats because it is

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Flow and the BrainSynchronization of attentional and reward networks

Brain Human Brain by pixabay / CC0 1.0(Weber, Tamborini, Westcott-Baker, & Kantor 2009)Reducing brain stem responses

(http://www.focusatwill.com)

More recently, some researchers reformulated this idea of a flow state in a more specific way;They have suggested that flow is what happens when the attention and reward networks of the brain are both active-they were talking about video games specifically;But like video games, reward networks in our brains are stimulated when we listen to musicAlso like video games, our day to day tasks vary in how much attention we need to pay to them based on how difficult they are

Focus@will-with this in mind, focus@will is a website that creates playlists to assist in complex tasksCreating playlists with music that is somewhat constant, so that it doesnt draw attention to it, But changing enough so as to be interesting while performing tasks that require focus, like studyingThey havent published a formal paper to my knowledge

So, perhaps it may also be the case that when performing simpler tasks, like doing the laundry, or passing the time during a commute, Music that is more likely to draw attention is preferred

In other words, we want to suggest that perhaps, in selecting music with specific features, we are aiming for this optimal flow state, whether or not we realize it, and this might be worth looking into

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Why Music As TechnologyIs Interesting

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Interdisciplinary MeritMusical Emotions

Flow

Handshake by pixabay / CC0 1.0

A collaboration between our fields presents us with some rather unique opportunities-How music evoke emotions is a fascinating puzzle in psych--learning how specific features affect our bodies and brains is valuable in understanding how music can evoke emotional responses-A new and more precise means to examine Flow states or whether Flow states are really a thing-Which could lead to an understanding of the role of media in the modern world, and the reasons that we choose to consume it15

New Services & Big Data ChallengesMIR in the wild: new features, models, metrics?

Beyond download charts: music as means to achieve ends?

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Beyond Love at First ListenIllustration of a red heart isolated on a transparent background by pixabella / CC0 1.0Ear-phones Headphone by pixabay / CC0 1.0

Another way of saying this:We should look beyond finding people music they are likely to enjoy the first time they hear it17

Lets TalkThe Discussion by Adrian Snood / CC BY-NC 2.0

Burning questions: fire away right now

Further discussion at Unconference?

andrew.m.demetriou@gmail.com m.a.larson@tudelft.nl c.c.s.liem@tudelft.nl

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Music As TechnologyRespondents use music as a resource for the conduct of emotional 'work', and for heightening or changing energy levels.

(DeNora, 1999)Headphones by Sascha Kohlmann / CC BY 2.0

Getting back to Tia Denoras idea

-It might not yet be clear how specifically music and context may interact, or whether they to produce a flow state, enough evi- dence has been accrued for us to suggest two aspects worthy of study:1) during tasks in which boredom is likely, more arousing, attentiong-grabbing music may be selected to induce a flow state: by diverting attentional resources to the mu- sic the challenge of the task increases, as it now requires attention to be paid to both the activity and the music 2) during tasks that are challenging or otherwise cognitively engaging music that is likely to be less arousing resulting in less brain stem activation (e.g., relatively un- changing or consonant) may be more suitable

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Listener Control

Portret van een man by Gert Germeraad / CC BY-SA 3.0Preference for tailored playlists(Kamalzadeh, Baur & Moller, 2012)

Greater positive effects(North, Hargreaves & Hargreaves, 2004))

Present-mindedness and arousal(Sloboda, ONeill & Ivaldi, 2001)

Personalized featuresPersonal exposure? Expertise?20

Beyond Love at First Listen

Brain Human Brain by pixabay / CC0 1.0

Ear-phones Headphone by pixabay / CC0 1.0

And also consider what they are engaged in at the time as well

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