Nicolas Ruth

“Heal the World”: A field experiment on the effects of music with prosocial lyrics on prosocial behavior

A significant amount of existing research has dealt with the negative effects of music on people’s behavior, but only a few studies have shown that music with prosocial lyrics can increase prosocial behavior. This study focuses on the positive effects of music with prosocial lyrics on people in an everyday setting. Based on the general learning model, a field experiment (N = 256, 66% female) was conducted to test whether people exposed to music with prosocial lyrics engaged in more prosocial behavior by buying more fair trade products compared to regular products than did those exposed to songs with neutral lyrics. Guests of a café were randomly assigned to either the prosocial or the neutral music condition and were monitored by two observers who were instructed to report the prosocial purchase (of fair trade coffee) and tipping behavior of the guests. The results indicated that there is a significant positive association between prosocial behavior and the prosocial lyrics of the songs played. The study shows that it is most likely that music with prosocial lyrics can influence one’s prosocial purchase behavior in an everyday situation. The underlying mechanisms are still poorly researched, but these findings support the theoretical assumptions.

“They don’t really care…”: Effects of music with prosocial content and corresponding media coverage on prosocial behavior:

Many musicians deliver prosocial messages in their music and engage in charity events, but we know very little about how our reception of this music affects us. Following the General Learning Model by Buckley and Anderson, one possible explanation could be that the music affects us because we know about the engagement and the intentions of the musicians. In most cases this knowledge is received through media coverage. Two studies were conducted to investigate what influence media coverage about music with prosocial content has on participants’ appraisal of the music, and the effect of the music on participants. The first study (N = 145) altered the valence of the media coverage about a semi-fictional music charity project in a 3 × 1 between-subjects design. The second study (N = 157) used music by an unknown artist that had either prosocial or comparable neutral lyrics alongside positive or neutral media coverage about the artist in a 2 × 2 between-subjects design. Both studies tested the extent to which participants’ appraisal of the music they listened to, their empathy and associated prosocial behavior or prosocial behavioral intentions differed between experimental groups. Results of Study 1 indicate that media coverage influences our appraisal as negative media coverage of the charity project was found to negatively affect participants’ appraisal of that project and Study 2 yielded that neutral media coverage of the unknown artist led to the most positive appraisal of the artist’s music.

Research trends on music and advertising

espanolLa investigacion sobre musica y publicidad es diversa y poco estructurada, pero en este articulo argumentamos que existen cuatro campos de investigacion que reflejan la interaccion de la compleja relacion entre la musica y la publicidad. Un analisis de los estudios pertinentes revelo diversas brechas de investigacion y agrupo las principales tradiciones de investigacion. Finalmente, identificamos cuatro tipos de investigacion: publicidad con musica, publicidad con musicos, musica con publicidad y publicidad para musica. Esta tipologia conduce a la conclusion de que se necesita mas investigacion interdisciplinaria para la investigacion de todos los limites entre la musica y la publicidad. EnglishResearch on music and advertising is diverse and unstructured. Looking at the most important factors that define related research, this article aims to introduce a typology of four research fields that reflect the interplay of the complex relationship between music and advertising. An analysis of relevant studies revealed diverse research gaps and clustered the main research traditions. Eventually, we identified four types of research, namely advertising with music, advertising with musicians, music with advertising, and advertising for music. This typology leads to the conclusion that more interdisciplinary research is needed for the investigation all of the boundaries between music and advertising.

»There’s a Song on the Jukebox« – Vom Musiktonträger zum Streaming

Schallschwingungen technisch aufzeichnen und wiedergeben zu konnen, bedeutete eine Revolution fur den Musikmarkt und die Musikkultur. Als Thomas Alva Edison 1877 seinen Phonographen zum Patent anmeldete, hatte er eigentlich im Sinn, damit Sprache aufzeichnen zu konnen. Das funktionierte auch: Man sprach gegen eine Membran, die eine Nadel in Schwingungen versetze. Die Nadel ubertrug die Schwingungen auf eine mit Stanniolfolie bezogene Walze.

Alternative music playlists on the radio: Flow experience and appraisal during the reception of music radio programs

It is of fundamental importance for radio broadcasting companies that their listeners do not turn off the radio or switch to another station. Audiences continue listening if they like the program – especially the music. This positive appraisal can be explained by the concept of flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975), which illustrates how the right balance between the challenge of completing a task and the skill of the individual can lead to a particularly fulfilling mental state. We therefore conducted two 2 × 2 between-subjects experiments in cooperation with a major German broadcasting company in which we varied the complexity and familiarity of a 1-hour prime time radio program. In Study 1 we examined the effects of Adult Contemporary radio programs on a sample of the appropriate target group (120 participants, 51% female, 30 to 39 years old), while in Study 2, equivalent Contemporary Hit radio programs were evaluated by that genre’s younger target group (217 participants, 49% female, 14 to 31 years old). We found that, dependent on the musical skill or listening modes of the recipients, the complexity of the music programs could be associated with higher or lower flow experiences, which in turn had an influence on positive listener appraisal.

“… And Please Visit Our Facebook Page, Too!” How Radio Presenter Personalities Influence Listeners’ Interactions With Radio Stations

Radio personalities or presenters are important to music radio stations, as their individual personalities influence if, how, and to what extent listeners want to interact with radio stations and presenters during programs. Both parasocial interaction with the presenter and flow experiences are believed to mediate the listener–presenter relationship. With this in mind, we conducted an experiment in which 236 German radio listeners aged 14 to 49 were asked to listen to the same radio show, but with varying presenters. Mediation analysis revealed notable effects of presenters’ personalities on listeners’ behavioral intentions. Both parasocial interaction and flow were found to be important mediators of the discovered effects.

“If you wanna make the world a better place”: Factors influencing the effect of songs with prosocial lyrics:

Although there has been an increase in research considering the positive effects of music with prosocial lyrics on people’s behavior, little is known about the process by which this happens or about the factors that influence the effect of listening to songs with prosocial content. This study focused on the interaction between attention level and familiarity, two factors that, to some degree, determine the effect of this kind of music. Based on the general learning model, the reciprocal feedback model of music perception, and the elaboration likelihood model, an online experiment (n = 220) was conducted to test how people listening attentively to familiar or unfamiliar music with prosocial lyrics are affected, in comparison with those listening inattentively. The results yielded a significant interaction effect between attention and familiarity on prosocial behavior, indicating that only familiar songs with prosocial lyrics affect inattentive listeners, whereas attentive listeners are affected similarly by familiar and unfamiliar songs. Effects on emotions and an indirect effect of familiarity on prosocial behavior via activated pre-knowledge and positive emotions were also found. The results are discussed regarding their role in understanding the music reception process and their meaning for listeners’ prosocial behavior.

“Where is the love?” Topics and prosocial behavior in German popular music lyrics from 1954 to 2014:

Many content analyses have investigated the content of popular music, but as yet no one has looked for references to prosocial behavior in the lyrics. There are no quantitative content analyses of prosocial content in popular music, although we know that many musicians are concerned with social engagement, the environment, equal rights, and many other prosocial behaviors. To investigate which topics are the most prevalent in popular music lyrics and how frequently these refer to prosocial behavior, a content analysis was performed on 588 songs appearing in the German yearly charts from 1954 to 2014. The major interest of songwriters seems to be love, which was found in 57% of the songs; this was the most common topic found. References to prosocial behavior were found in 3.74% of the songs. Prosocial behavior usually appeared in songs dealing with social or political topics.

Outro: »The Show Most Go On!« – Eine Medienwelt voller Musik

Sicher: Viele Experten meinen zumindest im Ruckblick, es ja schon immer gewusst zu haben. Aber viele dieser Experten haben zur Jahrtausendwende auch bereits den Tod von Zeitung und Radio in den nachsten zehn Jahren kommen sehen. Nichts davon ist eingetreten. Zwar hat die Zeitung ordentlich an Boden verloren, aber immer noch liest ungefahr die Halfte der Deutschen taglich eine Tageszeitung.

The Voice of the Music Industry

Peer-to-Peer-Musiktauschborsen und illegale Musikdownloads sturzten Ende der 90er-Jahre die Musikindustrie weltweit in eine schwere Krise mit Umsatzeinbusen in Milliardenhohe. Erst im Jahr 2013 konnte die Trendwende vollzogen und erstmalig wieder minimale Umsatzzuwachse verzeichnet werden (Bundesverband Musikindustrie, 2014). Diese Umsatzeinbusen uber einen Zeitraum von 15 Jahren haben unter anderem bewirkt, dass Risikogeschafte und damit auch Investitionen in den Aufbau neuer Kunstler seitens der Musiklabels verhaltener getatigt wurden (von Zitzewitz, 2007).