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 (Saarikallio and Erkkilä, 2007) and explore how participant background variables (musical sophistication, sensitivity to musical reward, empathy, and wellbeing) 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 required arousal modulation, whereas instrumental music was preferred for strategies requiring cognitive responses and that of Strong Sensation. Regarding individual differences, results show that participants’ sensitivity to musical reward best correlated with their tendency to use all MMR strategies, and several other individual-difference measures were found to be associated with the use of specific MMR strategies to lesser degrees. We discuss the potential implications of our research for advancing theories on musical emotions and the development of wellbeing tools.