Music preferences change and adjust to mood at all times. Music helps us manage emotions and thus promotes well-being. So we hear different songs at different times of the day (mornings tend to be quieter), different days of the week (the weekend calls for dance music), or different weeks of the year (Christmas carols abound and summer song in summer).
Everyone looks for the music that best fits their vital moment. Furthermore, access to music, for example via radio, has very low consumption costs. For these reasons, music consumption is probably the most widespread cultural consumption. By analyzing the sentiment of the most listened songs, we can get the social preference that exists at all times. The music that society listens to in any specific period will help us reflect the emotional state it is in.
On the other hand, economic downturns are one of the main factors affecting the collective welfare. It is worth asking: what kind of music do we prefer to listen to to satisfy our well-being when the economy is in a recession?
The upbeat songs tend to coincide with times of high unemployment
In the same graph, the ten most positive songs that were released during the analyzed period were identified over time. These are songs that spent ten weeks on the greatest hits list and were number one. Song lyrics are automatically analyzed using advanced Artificial Intelligence (Natural Language Processing) techniques to provide an index of the song’s positive or negative pitch. An indicator of the joy that the piece conveys was also used, elaborated according to the musical characteristics (tempo, pitch, etc.).
In total, 28,747 different songs published in the 3,205 weeks studied (62 years) were examined. For example, we can look at the emergence of Rihanna’s “Diamonds” in 2012, a year marked by a long period of high unemployment after the 2008 financial crisis.
As can be seen from the graph, only three of the ten most positive songs reached number one during periods when the unemployment rate was below 6%. And this taking into account that in 60% of the time analyzed unemployment was below average. In other words, in times when there is less unemployment, there are also fewer positive songs than one might expect. On the flip side, we find that when unemployment is higher, more upbeat songs are concentrated.
In the study we show that society’s favorite music is influenced not only by unemployment, but also by inflation, stock prices and interest rates. When the unemployment rate, inflation, interest rates or the stock market go down, the welfare of society decreases and musical preferences change. In these situations, people are more likely to consume happy songs and positive lyrics instead of sad and negative songs. The results hold when using yearly, monthly, and weekly time series and are robust to several measures of the variables.
Clip from the film Bande de Filles in which the protagonists get excited to the rhythm of ‘Diamonds’ by Rihanna.
THE “LIPSTICK EFFECT”
The rise of upbeat music in troubled times is linked to the so-called “lipstick effect,” which gets its name from the surge in lipstick sales during recessions. In times of economic crisis, consumers buy goods that have a low cost but which provide personal satisfaction. For the first time, this effect was identified in the consumption of cultural goods and services, particularly music.
Music is probably the most accessible cultural field and the one with the greatest immediate satisfaction. That’s why many people go to her to feel better. It is advisable to be aware that, in the face of economic, personal or social problems, culture is a refuge and we must count on it to allow us to overcome the fluctuations in personal well-being that derive from crises.
