Emotions evoked by the sound of music: Characterization, classification, and measurement

One reason for the universal appeal of music lies in the emotional rewards that music offers to its listeners. But what makes these rewards so special? The current research addresses this question by investigating the nature and differentiation of music-induced emotions in 4 studies. Studies 1 and 2 (N = 354) were conducted to compile a list of music-relevant emotion terms and to study the frequency of both felt and perceived emotions across 5 groups of listeners with distinct music preferences. Emotional responses varied greatly according to musical genre and type of response (felt vs. perceived). Study 3 (N = 801)-a field study carried out during a music festival-examined the structure of music-induced emotions via confirmatory factor analysis of emotion ratings, resulting in a 9-factorial model of music-induced emotions. Study 4 (N = 238) replicated this model and found that it accounted for music-elicited emotions better than the basic emotion and dimensional emotion models