Conscious judgement of sleep music based on musical characteristics, liking and familiarity

We often judge music, by choosing tracks for workouts, work, or sleep. These judgements can be made intuitively or analytically, according to dual-process theory. Decisions about what music to listen to are made by individuals in many contexts, although it’s unclear how music features and familiarity influence these choices. For example, sleep research often uses calm music, yet surveys show people sometimes prefer energetic tracks. To explore this, we conducted an online experiment, where 97 participants rated short musical excerpts for sleep suitability and likeability. The tracks were in a 2x2 design: familiarity (unfamiliar or familiar) and type (calm or energetic). For tracks rated above 50, participants answered additional questions about potential sleep-related uses (e.g., relaxation). As expected, calm music was rated as more appropriate for sleep, but surprisingly familiar music was not. This suggests participants relied on heuristics, viewing calm music as more fitting, and may carry associations with familiar music that hinder imagining it for sleep. Additionally, liking a track was more important than familiarity for its sleep suitability. These findings reveal a gap between conscious music judgements and physiological responses, urging caution in future research where participants’ conscious preferences may not reflect their true reactions to music.