Analysis of cultural differences in the creation of romance and break-up playlists.

Background: Extending previous work examining contextual listening through the lens of creating and listening to playlists (e.g., Krause & North, 2014), the present research considered whether there would be differences in the music selected for playlists concerning two love-related themes, “romance” and “break-up”. Aims: Given previous research on cultural differences concerning popular love songs (Cachia & Tsai, 2021), our research question asked whether there would be cultural differences using a sample size of five countries in music listening practices concerning playlists for different situations and their use in everyday life. Methods and Results: Semi-structured, individual interviews were conducted with participants residing in Australia, Singapore, the United States, Brazil, and Nigeria. In the interviews, participants were asked to discuss their everyday listening practices (including making and using playlists specifically) and to think specifically about how they would construct playlists for two love themes. Additional questions asked the participants to characterize the music they would select for “romance” and “break-up” playlists from Cachia and Tsai’s (2021) themes (i.e., crush, physical, romantic, ambivalent, heartbreak, over someone, and reminiscing). Lastly, participants were asked to think about the possible overlap in shared musical preferences with their partner and best friend. Data analysis is currently underway. Preliminary findings indicate that most participants, regardless of country of residence, listen to music using their mobile phones. Those residing in Australia, Singapore, and Brazil tend to access music via Spotify, while people residing in Nigeria listen to music via any music player default on their phone. People in all countries varied in terms of how often they made and listened to playlists (both personal and pre-made lists recommended by Spotify). For some, the consideration of framing a playlist to a theme such as love also did not match their usual way of grouping music into a playlist (e.g., by activity, genre, or artist). Nonetheless, participants entertained the thought exercise and said they would select songs based on lyrics, emotions, what the people of their community listen to, or associated memories (i.e., of a partner) to populate love-themed playlists. Additional analyses will speak to the cultural similarities and differences in the types of music selected for the contrasting playlists as well as to patterns concerning shared musical preferences and practices amongst partners. Discussion and Conclusion: Implications of this study concern improved recommendation algorithms for playlists designed for the public, based on preferred listening choices