Energy, Popularity, and the Circumplex: A Computerized Analysis of Emotion in 143,353 Musical Pieces

The circumplex model of affect claims that emotions can be understood in terms of their relative positions along two dimensions, namely pleasant-unpleasant and active-sleepy; and numerous studies of small samples of music have yielded data consistent with this. The present research tests whether the...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: North, Adrian, Krause, A., Sheridan, Lorraine, Ritchie, D.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Baywood Publishing Co., Inc. 2018
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/72291
_version_ 1848762711065755648
author North, Adrian
Krause, A.
Sheridan, Lorraine
Ritchie, D.
author_facet North, Adrian
Krause, A.
Sheridan, Lorraine
Ritchie, D.
author_sort North, Adrian
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The circumplex model of affect claims that emotions can be understood in terms of their relative positions along two dimensions, namely pleasant-unpleasant and active-sleepy; and numerous studies of small samples of music have yielded data consistent with this. The present research tests whether the energy and beats per minute (proxies for the arousal dimension) and popularity as expressed in terms of sale charts (a possible proxy for the pleasantness dimension) could predict scores on six moods in 143,353 musical pieces. Findings concerning energy were clearly consistent with the circumplex model; findings for beats per minute were consistent though more equivocal; and findings concerning popularity yielded only limited support. Numerous relationships between popularity and mood were indicative of the commercial market for specific genres; and evidence demonstrated considerable differences in the mood scores between genres. In addition to the circumplex model and aesthetic responses, the findings have implications for music marketing, therapy, and everyday listening.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T10:51:54Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-72291
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T10:51:54Z
publishDate 2018
publisher Baywood Publishing Co., Inc.
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-722912020-05-18T08:19:42Z Energy, Popularity, and the Circumplex: A Computerized Analysis of Emotion in 143,353 Musical Pieces North, Adrian Krause, A. Sheridan, Lorraine Ritchie, D. The circumplex model of affect claims that emotions can be understood in terms of their relative positions along two dimensions, namely pleasant-unpleasant and active-sleepy; and numerous studies of small samples of music have yielded data consistent with this. The present research tests whether the energy and beats per minute (proxies for the arousal dimension) and popularity as expressed in terms of sale charts (a possible proxy for the pleasantness dimension) could predict scores on six moods in 143,353 musical pieces. Findings concerning energy were clearly consistent with the circumplex model; findings for beats per minute were consistent though more equivocal; and findings concerning popularity yielded only limited support. Numerous relationships between popularity and mood were indicative of the commercial market for specific genres; and evidence demonstrated considerable differences in the mood scores between genres. In addition to the circumplex model and aesthetic responses, the findings have implications for music marketing, therapy, and everyday listening. 2018 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/72291 10.1177/0276237417704339 Baywood Publishing Co., Inc. fulltext
spellingShingle North, Adrian
Krause, A.
Sheridan, Lorraine
Ritchie, D.
Energy, Popularity, and the Circumplex: A Computerized Analysis of Emotion in 143,353 Musical Pieces
title Energy, Popularity, and the Circumplex: A Computerized Analysis of Emotion in 143,353 Musical Pieces
title_full Energy, Popularity, and the Circumplex: A Computerized Analysis of Emotion in 143,353 Musical Pieces
title_fullStr Energy, Popularity, and the Circumplex: A Computerized Analysis of Emotion in 143,353 Musical Pieces
title_full_unstemmed Energy, Popularity, and the Circumplex: A Computerized Analysis of Emotion in 143,353 Musical Pieces
title_short Energy, Popularity, and the Circumplex: A Computerized Analysis of Emotion in 143,353 Musical Pieces
title_sort energy, popularity, and the circumplex: a computerized analysis of emotion in 143,353 musical pieces
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/72291