Exploring engagement with music in everyday life using experience sampling methodology

By Alinka Greasley, A. Lamont. 2011

190 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Recent qualitative research has highlighted differences in people’s music-listening behaviour according to their level of involvement with and interest in music, yet these findings are mainly based on retrospective accounts of patterns of behaviour (Greasley, 2008; Greasley & Lamont, 2006; Lonie, 2009). Experience sampling methodology (ESM) is a valuable tool for studying music in everyday contexts, and it has been shown to increase people’s conscious awareness of the role of music in their lives (Sloboda, O’Neill, & Ivaldi, 2001). Using ESM, the present study explored differences in people’s everyday engagement with music by recruiting three different types of listener: those identified as having low, moderate, or high engagement with music. Over seven days, quantitative and qualitative data were collected from 25 young adults (aged 18–30) on what they were doing while hearing music (e.g., activities) and the functions/effects of music (e.g., reasons influencing choices). Post-study interviews with 23 participants then generated retrospective accounts about specific musical experiences. Analysis revealed two broad types of listener: the less engaged, who listened for fewer hours a week (min = 3 hours, mean = 12 hours), were less likely to be hearing self-chosen music, and were more likely to listen to music to pass time, out of habit or to help them feel less alone; and the highly engaged, who listened for a greater number of hours per week (mean = 21 hours, max = 40 hours), were more likely to be hearing self-chosen music, and were more likely to use music to evoke specific moods, create an atmosphere, or enhance an activity. The study confirmed the usefulness of ESM for investigating the complex (and interacting) factors involved in people’s daily musical choices, and highlighted ways in which music can fulfil different functions concurrently. Findings show that future research on everyday musical behaviour should continue to account for the context of music listening in shaping responses to and uses of music; and account for individual differences in people’s levels of engagement with music.

Subfields: Cognitive Neuroscience, Developmental and Educational Psychology, Music

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/fadd1e8d4b52bcb1c076786fb61335521b18eca2

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Citations in the corpus

Music-listening in everyday life: Devices and choice (2015, methodology): “For instance, Greasley and Lamont (2011) used the Experience Sampling Method to explore engagement with music and Juslin et al. (2008) considered emotional reactions to music in everyday life. North et al. (2004) used text message prompts to ask participants to report who they were with, what they w”
Personal and situational influences on the functions of music listening (2018, background): “Research consistently showed that whereas listening to recorded music is the dominant mode of how people listen to music today, listening to live music has become a rather uncommon event (Greasley & Lamont, 2011; Krause et al., 2015).”