Examining the Lyrical Content and Musical Features of a Crowd-Sourced, Australian Pandemic Playlist
A recent examination of charting popular music before and during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic indicated that popular music lyrics during turbulent socioeconomic conditions had more negatively valenced words, providing support for the Environmental Security Hypothesis. However, the u...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SAGE Publishing
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Music & Science |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/20592043231215632 |
| _version_ | 1797384651246927872 |
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| author | Kaila C. Putter Amanda E. Krause Dianna Vidas Adrian C. North |
| author_facet | Kaila C. Putter Amanda E. Krause Dianna Vidas Adrian C. North |
| author_sort | Kaila C. Putter |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A recent examination of charting popular music before and during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic indicated that popular music lyrics during turbulent socioeconomic conditions had more negatively valenced words, providing support for the Environmental Security Hypothesis. However, the use of chart data alone cannot speak to what individuals are listening to against the backdrop of COVID-19. The present mixed-methods case study examined a crowd-sourced playlist ( n = 55 songs) created by Australian residents during an extended lockdown in September–October 2021. Qualitative analysis of the lyrics demonstrated that the selected music expresses a closeness to others, references to the current situation (such as illness and staying at home), negative emotions (including confusion and fear), a positive outlook (expressing perseverance and a will to survive), and a changing sense of time. Quantitative analyses compared the “pandemic playlist” songs to charting songs during the first six months of the pandemic in 2020 and the same period in 2021 ( n = 28 and 26 songs, respectively) with regard to their musical features (using scraped Spotify API data) and lyrical content (using Diction). The findings indicated that the songs included in the “pandemic playlist” differed significantly from the charting songs in 2020 and 2021 by being higher in energy (relative to 2020 and 2021) and less acoustic (relative to 2021). Additionally, the lyrics of the “pandemic playlist” songs had significantly more positively valenced words. These differences suggest that people believed music selected in response to the pandemic ought to be upbeat and realistic (playlist suggestions), but popular songs were relatively pensive and reflected uncertainty and isolation (chart data). These findings broaden our understanding of music listening behaviors in response to societal stress. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T21:39:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-077e22a2ca934800b392da9a5d24da9a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2059-2043 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T21:39:05Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Music & Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-077e22a2ca934800b392da9a5d24da9a2023-12-20T15:03:19ZengSAGE PublishingMusic & Science2059-20432023-12-01610.1177/20592043231215632Examining the Lyrical Content and Musical Features of a Crowd-Sourced, Australian Pandemic PlaylistKaila C. Putter0Amanda E. Krause1Dianna Vidas2Adrian C. North3 Department of Psychology, , Townsville, QLD, Australia Department of Psychology, , Townsville, QLD, Australia School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia School of Population Health, Curtin University, Bentley, WA, AustraliaA recent examination of charting popular music before and during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic indicated that popular music lyrics during turbulent socioeconomic conditions had more negatively valenced words, providing support for the Environmental Security Hypothesis. However, the use of chart data alone cannot speak to what individuals are listening to against the backdrop of COVID-19. The present mixed-methods case study examined a crowd-sourced playlist ( n = 55 songs) created by Australian residents during an extended lockdown in September–October 2021. Qualitative analysis of the lyrics demonstrated that the selected music expresses a closeness to others, references to the current situation (such as illness and staying at home), negative emotions (including confusion and fear), a positive outlook (expressing perseverance and a will to survive), and a changing sense of time. Quantitative analyses compared the “pandemic playlist” songs to charting songs during the first six months of the pandemic in 2020 and the same period in 2021 ( n = 28 and 26 songs, respectively) with regard to their musical features (using scraped Spotify API data) and lyrical content (using Diction). The findings indicated that the songs included in the “pandemic playlist” differed significantly from the charting songs in 2020 and 2021 by being higher in energy (relative to 2020 and 2021) and less acoustic (relative to 2021). Additionally, the lyrics of the “pandemic playlist” songs had significantly more positively valenced words. These differences suggest that people believed music selected in response to the pandemic ought to be upbeat and realistic (playlist suggestions), but popular songs were relatively pensive and reflected uncertainty and isolation (chart data). These findings broaden our understanding of music listening behaviors in response to societal stress.https://doi.org/10.1177/20592043231215632 |
| spellingShingle | Kaila C. Putter Amanda E. Krause Dianna Vidas Adrian C. North Examining the Lyrical Content and Musical Features of a Crowd-Sourced, Australian Pandemic Playlist Music & Science |
| title | Examining the Lyrical Content and Musical Features of a Crowd-Sourced, Australian Pandemic Playlist |
| title_full | Examining the Lyrical Content and Musical Features of a Crowd-Sourced, Australian Pandemic Playlist |
| title_fullStr | Examining the Lyrical Content and Musical Features of a Crowd-Sourced, Australian Pandemic Playlist |
| title_full_unstemmed | Examining the Lyrical Content and Musical Features of a Crowd-Sourced, Australian Pandemic Playlist |
| title_short | Examining the Lyrical Content and Musical Features of a Crowd-Sourced, Australian Pandemic Playlist |
| title_sort | examining the lyrical content and musical features of a crowd sourced australian pandemic playlist |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/20592043231215632 |
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