Evoking nostalgia by presenting music hit charts

Music evokes nostalgia. This study aimed to clarify the nostalgia evoked by simply observing music hit charts rather than listening to music. We examined nostalgia, its function, and mood while looking at hit charts, by collecting large-scale data on specific ages and hit charts in a controlled manner. Participants between 20 and 69 years of age responded to a list of hit songs in Japan between 1983 and 2022, and a total of 3,741 responses were obtained. The results showed that nostalgia was effectively evoked by simply observing the song titles and musicians’ names, and that the more songs the participants knew, the stronger the response. The strongest correlation within the nostalgia function was with self-continuity. Nostalgia peaked in the music hit charts associated with participants' late adolescence, which was consistent with the reminiscence bump phenomenon. No significant relationship was observed between nostalgia and mood change. In conclusion, text-based music cues such as hit charts can function as powerful triggers for nostalgia.