Does familiarity drive our choice in music? Study says yes

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There are times when I question myself for not sufficiently listening to new music. Then there are other times, when I believe that I am caught up in a time warp — mainly from my college days — listening on multiple occasions to the very same songs and/or bands. There is no doubt that a lot of songs that have been released during the turn of the century are not only pleasant, but have the potential of becoming classics in their own right with the passage of time. But, more often than not, I place myself in the category of an old-timer, not resilient to change, which is why nostalgia returns as the music flavour of the past few decades. It remains the age old argument now of having limitless options of listening to songs — thanks especially to the digital era — when you come across songs that are novel and new, but you still opt for the known and old.
However, am I an exception, or are there others who feel the same way? There is little research that has been undertaken either by popular media or by consumers themselves on how much familiarity they desire. Until now, that is. I chanced upon reading a study conducted in the U.S. by a Washington University at St. Louis’ Olin Business School during July, The Same Old Song: The Power of Familiarity in Music Choice, that speaks of familiarity probably being the most important driver of music choice. Little wonder then that inspite of my listening to a lot of radio — always in the mornings, a wee bit in the evenings, and select programmes on the weekend — and attending the occasional live events featuring independent music, my listening still has me return to a blast from the past.
My ally in this study shows that consumers pick music that they are familiar with even when they believe they could consider listening to less familiar music. In fact, one of the researchers of the study under reference, Dr Joseph Goodman, even suggests that marketers should continue to promote what is familiar to consumers, even though it might not necessarily be the most liked. In addition, managers and artists should not underestimate the power of familiarity when promoting their music.
In fact, if one goes back two years, a study published in an online journal published by a non-profit organisation of scientists and physicians committed to making the world’s scientific and medical literature a freely available public resource, Public Library Of Science (http:// www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0027241 [2]), also reiterated similar findings where it was shown that regions of the brain associated with emotion and pleasure-seeking were significantly more active when study participants listened to familiar music, than not.
The utility of both studies is obvious as it predicts the preference for listening to songs, and play lists on radio stations, and can be tremendously useful for bands to decide on set lists, and for promoters to decide on music events. Let us not forget the utility for advertisers too, knowing fully well that they should continue advertising on channels/programmes of familiarity.
The importance of the studies cannot be better defined in the context of the Indian music industry which was reported to be around `575 crore (legitimate market, excluding piracy) in 2011, which has since grown to `600 crore last year with physical sales contributing between `250-300 crore and, digital sales, `350-400 crore. The industry is expected to grow between seven to 10 per cent in 2013.
The digital growth story of India has witnessed a 15 per cent rise in its total income and is further expected to rise through digital downloads, internet, and mobile consumption.
Nevertheless, in all this, let us not forget the basis of The Same Old Song: The Power of Familiarity in Music Choice study, which essentially says that familiarity is fun. A good example is the songs of musician J.J. Cale who died on July 26. While he had written several songs through his long career, it is only the familiar versions that will be known by readers — rather than the little known, or heard, originals — such as After Midnight with which Eric Clapton scored his first solo hit. Clapton went on to cover Cale’s Cocaine too, with Lynyrd Skynyrd finding similar success with Cale’s Call Me The Breeze.
So does musical familiarity breed contempt? Not so, says various studies and, with that, my grey hairs have just darkened a wee bit!

The writer has been part of the media and entertainment business for over 23 years, still continues to pursue his hobby, and earns an income out
of it!