Development of The Music Background Experience Questionnaire

People with different levels of music experience have been reported to differ significantly in cognitive abilities such as verbal memory, phonological awareness and reading development. However, studies often comparing the cognitive ability between musicians and non-musicians. Among the non-musicians, there are differences in music experience levels. Besides, many non-musicians with higher music experience than musicians. However, at present there is no reliable and valid measure of music experience in the literature. In the current study we developed the Music Background Experience Questionnaire for use in the field of music psychology. An initial set of 45 items was compiled based on the literature and on semi-structured interviews with 10 musicians and psychologists. These items were then tested in a pilot study of 402 participants. Based on exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, 11 items were selected and classified into the two dimensions of "music training" and "music contact." A sample of 2,228 participants (1,465 women, average age 27.62 years) then completed the new measure. A subsample of 49 completed the questionnaire again after three weeks. The internal consistency, test-retest reliability, structural validity and construct validity were strong. These strong psychometric properties suggest that the Music Background Experience Questionnaire is appropriate for use in music psychology research.

Hatsune Miku, Virtual Idols, and Transforming the Popular Music Experience

This essay aims to discuss the various ways that virtual idols have transformed music production, consumption, and performance in our digital society. Vocal synthesisers like Vocaloid have given amateur musicians accessibility into the industry, pushing the limits of vocal capability and preservation, and resulting in a worldwide fandom which utilises Vocaloid characters in diverse ways. Virtual idols bear resemblance to real-life Japanese idols, yet they manage to circumvent the often-strict lifestyles idols face while also playing into tropes surrounding otaku culture. It concludes by discussing how the experience and liveness of music concerts changes with virtual performers, and how virtual concerts have continued live music performance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Consuming and collecting records in Spain, 1896–1905

This chapter draws upon the five major surviving collections of Spanish early recordings in order to attempt to reconstruct who bought wax cylinders in Spain around 1900, what their motivations were and what their listening and collecting practices looked like. It discusses how record buyers were still a small, privileged minority in Spain at the time, and examines how collecting might have helped developed ways of listening focused on music appreciation rather than on purely replicating a collector’s live music experience. It also analyzes home recording practices, which were a significant part of phonograph marketing strategies at this time.

Measuring emotional music experience: Spreading activation and BRECVEMA mechanisms

Spreading activation in the cognitive network explains why music is experienced as familiar or likable. It might also be a premise for the emotion-inducing mechanisms of the BRECVEMA framework (Brain stem reflexes, Rhythmic entrainment, Evaluative conditioning, Contagion, Visual imagery, Episodic memory, Musical expectancy, Aesthetic judgment). Both perspectives constitute important aspects of music experience and are influenced by individual differences. In two studies ( n = 125 and n = 153), potential indicators for spreading activation and BRECVEMA mechanisms for single instances of music listening were assessed with a new questionnaire. The results indicated that Typicality of music, Liking, and attentional Engagement underlie spreading activation. The mechanisms Evaluative conditioning and Contagion in unison (Conditioning/Contagion), as well as Visual imagery and Episodic memory could be reliably assessed. Findings revealed that (a) Engagement, Conditioning/Contagion, and Visual imagery increased with musical expertise; (b) spreading activation and mechanisms were stronger when listening to self- rather than pre-selected music; (c) sad music evoked stronger Engagement, Conditioning/Contagion, and Episodic memory when it was self-selected; (d) spreading activation and mechanisms were associated with music empathizing and systemizing and the emotion regulation strategy reappraisal; and finally, (e) regulating sadness with sad music was associated with habitual suppression and stronger Conditioning/Contagion.