How Live Music Moves Us: Head Movement Differences in Audiences to Live Versus Recorded Music
A live music concert is a pleasurable social event that is among the most visceral and memorable forms of musical engagement. But what inspires listeners to attend concerts, sometimes at great expense, when they could listen to recordings at home? An iconic aspect of popular concerts is engaging wit...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2019-01-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02682/full |
| _version_ | 1818888139339464704 |
|---|---|
| author | Dana Swarbrick Dana Swarbrick Dan Bosnyak Dan Bosnyak Steven R. Livingstone Steven R. Livingstone Jotthi Bansal Jotthi Bansal Jotthi Bansal Susan Marsh-Rollo Susan Marsh-Rollo Matthew H. Woolhouse Matthew H. Woolhouse Laurel J. Trainor Laurel J. Trainor Laurel J. Trainor |
| author_facet | Dana Swarbrick Dana Swarbrick Dan Bosnyak Dan Bosnyak Steven R. Livingstone Steven R. Livingstone Jotthi Bansal Jotthi Bansal Jotthi Bansal Susan Marsh-Rollo Susan Marsh-Rollo Matthew H. Woolhouse Matthew H. Woolhouse Laurel J. Trainor Laurel J. Trainor Laurel J. Trainor |
| author_sort | Dana Swarbrick |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A live music concert is a pleasurable social event that is among the most visceral and memorable forms of musical engagement. But what inspires listeners to attend concerts, sometimes at great expense, when they could listen to recordings at home? An iconic aspect of popular concerts is engaging with other audience members through moving to the music. Head movements, in particular, reflect emotion and have social consequences when experienced with others. Previous studies have explored the affiliative social engagement experienced among people moving together to music. But live concerts have other features that might also be important, such as that during a live performance the music unfolds in a unique and not predetermined way, potentially increasing anticipation and feelings of involvement for the audience. Being in the same space as the musicians might also be exciting. Here we controlled for simply being in an audience to examine whether factors inherent to live performance contribute to the concert experience. We used motion capture to compare head movement responses at a live album release concert featuring Canadian rock star Ian Fletcher Thornley, and at a concert without the performers where the same songs were played from the recorded album. We also examined effects of a prior connection with the performers by comparing fans and neutral-listeners, while controlling for familiarity with the songs, as the album had not yet been released. Head movements were faster during the live concert than the album-playback concert. Self-reported fans moved faster and exhibited greater levels of rhythmic entrainment than neutral-listeners. These results indicate that live music engages listeners to a greater extent than pre-recorded music and that a pre-existing admiration for the performers also leads to higher engagement. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T16:48:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2a54fb180024453d8599469ef30e16b5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T16:48:22Z |
| publishDate | 2019-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-2a54fb180024453d8599469ef30e16b52022-12-21T20:13:36ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782019-01-01910.3389/fpsyg.2018.02682420424How Live Music Moves Us: Head Movement Differences in Audiences to Live Versus Recorded MusicDana Swarbrick0Dana Swarbrick1Dan Bosnyak2Dan Bosnyak3Steven R. Livingstone4Steven R. Livingstone5Jotthi Bansal6Jotthi Bansal7Jotthi Bansal8Susan Marsh-Rollo9Susan Marsh-Rollo10Matthew H. Woolhouse11Matthew H. Woolhouse12Laurel J. Trainor13Laurel J. Trainor14Laurel J. Trainor15Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, CanadaMcMaster Institute for Music and the Mind, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, CanadaMcMaster Institute for Music and the Mind, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, CanadaMcMaster Institute for Music and the Mind, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, CanadaMcMaster Institute for Music and the Mind, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, CanadaDigital Music Lab, School of the Arts, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, CanadaMcMaster Institute for Music and the Mind, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, CanadaMcMaster Institute for Music and the Mind, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, CanadaDigital Music Lab, School of the Arts, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, CanadaMcMaster Institute for Music and the Mind, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, CanadaRotman Research Institute, Baycrest Hospital, Toronto, ON, CanadaA live music concert is a pleasurable social event that is among the most visceral and memorable forms of musical engagement. But what inspires listeners to attend concerts, sometimes at great expense, when they could listen to recordings at home? An iconic aspect of popular concerts is engaging with other audience members through moving to the music. Head movements, in particular, reflect emotion and have social consequences when experienced with others. Previous studies have explored the affiliative social engagement experienced among people moving together to music. But live concerts have other features that might also be important, such as that during a live performance the music unfolds in a unique and not predetermined way, potentially increasing anticipation and feelings of involvement for the audience. Being in the same space as the musicians might also be exciting. Here we controlled for simply being in an audience to examine whether factors inherent to live performance contribute to the concert experience. We used motion capture to compare head movement responses at a live album release concert featuring Canadian rock star Ian Fletcher Thornley, and at a concert without the performers where the same songs were played from the recorded album. We also examined effects of a prior connection with the performers by comparing fans and neutral-listeners, while controlling for familiarity with the songs, as the album had not yet been released. Head movements were faster during the live concert than the album-playback concert. Self-reported fans moved faster and exhibited greater levels of rhythmic entrainment than neutral-listeners. These results indicate that live music engages listeners to a greater extent than pre-recorded music and that a pre-existing admiration for the performers also leads to higher engagement.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02682/fulllive concertrecorded musicmusicfanentrainmentmovement |
| spellingShingle | Dana Swarbrick Dana Swarbrick Dan Bosnyak Dan Bosnyak Steven R. Livingstone Steven R. Livingstone Jotthi Bansal Jotthi Bansal Jotthi Bansal Susan Marsh-Rollo Susan Marsh-Rollo Matthew H. Woolhouse Matthew H. Woolhouse Laurel J. Trainor Laurel J. Trainor Laurel J. Trainor How Live Music Moves Us: Head Movement Differences in Audiences to Live Versus Recorded Music Frontiers in Psychology live concert recorded music music fan entrainment movement |
| title | How Live Music Moves Us: Head Movement Differences in Audiences to Live Versus Recorded Music |
| title_full | How Live Music Moves Us: Head Movement Differences in Audiences to Live Versus Recorded Music |
| title_fullStr | How Live Music Moves Us: Head Movement Differences in Audiences to Live Versus Recorded Music |
| title_full_unstemmed | How Live Music Moves Us: Head Movement Differences in Audiences to Live Versus Recorded Music |
| title_short | How Live Music Moves Us: Head Movement Differences in Audiences to Live Versus Recorded Music |
| title_sort | how live music moves us head movement differences in audiences to live versus recorded music |
| topic | live concert recorded music music fan entrainment movement |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02682/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT danaswarbrick howlivemusicmovesusheadmovementdifferencesinaudiencestoliveversusrecordedmusic AT danaswarbrick howlivemusicmovesusheadmovementdifferencesinaudiencestoliveversusrecordedmusic AT danbosnyak howlivemusicmovesusheadmovementdifferencesinaudiencestoliveversusrecordedmusic AT danbosnyak howlivemusicmovesusheadmovementdifferencesinaudiencestoliveversusrecordedmusic AT stevenrlivingstone howlivemusicmovesusheadmovementdifferencesinaudiencestoliveversusrecordedmusic AT stevenrlivingstone howlivemusicmovesusheadmovementdifferencesinaudiencestoliveversusrecordedmusic AT jotthibansal howlivemusicmovesusheadmovementdifferencesinaudiencestoliveversusrecordedmusic AT jotthibansal howlivemusicmovesusheadmovementdifferencesinaudiencestoliveversusrecordedmusic AT jotthibansal howlivemusicmovesusheadmovementdifferencesinaudiencestoliveversusrecordedmusic AT susanmarshrollo howlivemusicmovesusheadmovementdifferencesinaudiencestoliveversusrecordedmusic AT susanmarshrollo howlivemusicmovesusheadmovementdifferencesinaudiencestoliveversusrecordedmusic AT matthewhwoolhouse howlivemusicmovesusheadmovementdifferencesinaudiencestoliveversusrecordedmusic AT matthewhwoolhouse howlivemusicmovesusheadmovementdifferencesinaudiencestoliveversusrecordedmusic AT laureljtrainor howlivemusicmovesusheadmovementdifferencesinaudiencestoliveversusrecordedmusic AT laureljtrainor howlivemusicmovesusheadmovementdifferencesinaudiencestoliveversusrecordedmusic AT laureljtrainor howlivemusicmovesusheadmovementdifferencesinaudiencestoliveversusrecordedmusic |