What Music Do People Use for Mood Regulation?

This study seeks to understand what music is used for music mood regulation (MMR). We question how audio features can characterise the music used for different MMR strategies and explore how participant background variables (musical sophistication, sensitivity to musical reward, empathy, and well-being) might predict the use of these strategies, and hence the kinds of music adopted for MMR. Participants ( N = 229) completed an online survey that produced a dataset composed of 5,334 tracks for MMR, their Spotify audio feature measures, and scores for the participant background variables. Principal component analyses revealed that energetic and positive music was preferred for strategies that regulated positive moods or modulated arousal, whereas instrumental music was preferred for the Strong Sensation strategy and those requiring cognitive responses. Regarding individual differences, we identify various correlations between participant background variables and amount of MMR strategy usage; exploratory analyses additionally suggest that musical sophistication, empathy, and well-being also predict the kind of music that is used for particular strategies. We discuss the potential implications of our research for advancing theories on musical emotions and the development of well-being tools.