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This research investigates how shopping on a weekday or a weekend moderates the impact of music on supermarket sales. Contrary to the intuitive beliefs of interviewed store managers, a meta-analysis, two field studies, and a controlled experimental study indicate that playing pleasant music (vs. no music) in supermarkets on weekdays enhances sales, an effect not found on weekends. Theorizing and interviews with shoppers suggest a potential reason for this week-part difference: Shoppers are more mentally depleted on weekdays (vs. weekends). A final study demonstrates and tests mental depletion as the driving factor for how shoppers are affected by music during different week parts. When consumers are depleted (e.g., on weekdays) music increases affect, which mediates the impact of music on sales. The results of the studies further indicate that week part plays a significant role in determining the impact of in-store music on sales. This article concludes with a discussion of the substantive and theoretical importance of incorporating the impact of week parts to predict in-store marketing effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Music therapy is the clinical use of musical interventions to improve mental and physical health across multiple domains, including social communication. Autistic children, who have difficulties in social communication and often increased anxiety, tend to show a strong preference for music, because it can be structured and systematic, and therefore more predictable than social interaction. This makes music therapy a promising medium for therapeutic support and intervention. Previous clinical trials of music therapy compared to traditional therapy for autistic children have shown encouraging but nevertheless mixed results. Key aims: The primary aim is to conduct a randomised controlled trial (RCT) of improvisational music therapy for autistic children and test its effectiveness in at improving social communication and wellbeing, and to reduce anxiety. Research plan: The RCT will be conducted with 200 autistic children in the UK aged 7 to 11 years old. Participants will be randomly assigned to either improvisational music therapy or support as usual. The trial will be an assessor-blind, pragmatic two-arm cluster RCT comparing the impact of 12-weeks of improvisational music therapy in addition to support as usual, vs. support as usual for autistic children. Methods: Researchers who are blind to which arm the children are in will conduct assessments and obtain data via caregiver reports. The primary outcome will be the absolute change in the total score of the Brief Observation of Social Communication Change (BOSCC) assessed at baseline, T1 (13 weeks) and T2 (39 weeks) follow-ups. The BOSCC consists of specific items that were developed to identify changes in social-communication behaviours. Secondary outcome measures include: (1) Parent reported anxiety scale for youth with ASD (Note that we do not use the term 'ASD' or Autism Spectrum Disorder, because many autistic people feel it is stigmatising. Instead, we use the term 'autism') (PRAS-ASD) (2) Young Child Outcome Rating Scale, for wellbeing (YCORS), (3) Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ); and (4) Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scale (VABS). (5) The Children's Communication Checklist-2 (CCC-2) will be completed to evaluate pragmatic speech with fluent speakers only; (6) The Music Engagement Scale (MES); and (7) Assessment of the Quality of Relationship (AQR) will be used to evaluate the child-therapist relationships using video-analysis of music therapy sessions. Additional data will be collected by administering the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI-II), Music at Home Questionnaire (M@H), and children's versions of the Empathy Quotient (EQ) and Systemizing Quotient (SQ). Audio and video data from the therapy sessions will be collected and analysed (using both human and computer-based feature-coding, e.g., machine learning and AI-driven methods) to identify how music and non-musical interactions foster change throughout the therapy. Discussion: This study aims to observe if the interactions, engagement, and therapeutic modalities fostered during music therapy sessions can translate to non-musical contexts and improve autistic children's social communication skills, identifying possible mediating factors contributing to the effectiveness of music therapy, potentially informing policy making and governance. Trial registration: This randomised control trial is registered with the NIH U.S. National Library of Medicine: https://clinicaltrials.gov/search?term=NCT06016621, clinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0601662, Registration Date 19th August 2023. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: As highlighted by the scientific literature, music therapy (MT) represents a significant non-pharmacological intervention within neurorehabilitation programs. MT offers benefits in the recovery process and enhances the quality of life for patients with neurodevelopmental disorders. A review of the literature reveals a lack of MT models focusing on real-time personalized composition using electronic music techniques. Furthermore, studies on MT conducted within a multisensory therapeutic context are limited. Recent literature reviews on MT in telerehabilitation have highlighted that the application of the Euterpe Method (EM) is complex due to limited technical information available and the combined background required for music therapists to replicate the EM protocol. Methods: This paper presents a manual which specifies the procedures and algorithms of the EM, developed during a research program conducted in a pediatric hospital in Italy. The prerogative of the EM is the use of procedures aimed at creating personalized therapeutic compositions within a multisensory environment. Discussion: The efficacy and resilience of the EM have been demonstrated in two experimental studies. The first focused on the use of telerehabilitation in children with developmental disorders, while the second involved hospitalized children with cerebral palsy. Conclusion: This study integrates medicine, neuroscience, and MT to develop personalized interventions in pediatrics, fostering collaboration among specialists and families, enhancing patient well-being, and opening new therapeutic perspectives, while ensuring the replicability of the EM approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2022, US President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faced public scrutiny over the background music used in official videos promoting their political agenda. Press articles and social media users claimed that the library (or 'stock') music heard in the videos consisted of so-called 'soundalikes', and questioned whether this choice was a public endorsement of problematic individuals or groups connected with the tracks in question: namely, conspiracy-theory movement QAnon, and convicted rock singer Gary Glitter. This article explores how library music is used strategically in these videos, highlighting the urgency of inquiring into its fundamental role in the construction and dissemination of political messages in media today, with moral and ethical implications that remain underresearched. Departing from these cases, the article also examines how library music, a once unseen musical practice, is now reaching the foreground of public attention, gaining unprecedented visibility due partly to its use in politically motivated videos. This allows us to rethink longstanding notions of library music as something that lacks a public existence, and to focus instead on what happens when it gains media coverage – prompting misunderstandings that reveal how unfamiliar the wider public is with the workings of this industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Medizinische Klinik: Intensivmedizin & Notfallmedizin is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

AbstractObjectiveDesignStudy sampleResultsConclusionEmploying automated language analysis, specifically Meaning Extraction Method (MEM) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA), to identify key factors in open-text responses about hearing aid experiences.Exploratory, cross-sectional design, using an online questionnaire. Responses to a single open-ended question were analysed using MEM, PCA, regression, and correlation analyses.Participants (n = 538) included adult hearing aid users sampled from the Hearing Tracker website community and Lexie Hearing user databases in the United States.The MEM-derived items revealed six factors related to hearing aid experiences: (1) life change, (2) social situation, (3) quality of life, (4) impact and speech understanding, (5) communication and interaction, and (6) music and environmental sounds. IOI-HA item 3 had the most statistically significant correlations with PCA factors. Quantile regression revealed that factors one and two significantly predicted the IOI-HA total score. Positive correlations were observed between self-reported hearing difficulty and factors one, four, and five, as well as between factor one and general health and factor two and physical activity.Natural language analysis of open-ended textual responses can offer valuable insights into hearing aid users’ experiences. Future studies should aim to refine this methodology to enhance clinical relevance and generalisability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The significance of enhancing working conditions for the physical health and performance of workers, particularly female workers, underscores the need for research in this domain and the examination of interventions such as music. Previous studies have yielded diverse outcomes regarding the influence of music on individuals' performance; hence, further research in this area appears imperative. The aim of this study is to explore the impact of music on the cognitive and task performance of female assembly operation operators. This study is an interventional (quasi-experimental) study that involved 81 participants from the female workforce of the medical equipment assembly unit in Isfahan, Iran. The evaluation encompassed task performance, working memory using N-Back test, sustained attention using continues performance test (CPT), degree of sleepiness, and mental fatigue using Flicker Fusion test, along with physiological parameters such as heart rate and blood oxygen level. Participants underwent testing both in the presence of classical music and in a condition without music playback. The provision of background music enhanced the workers' sustained attention and working memory. It led to improved task performance and a reduction in drowsiness. Concerning physiological parameters, it resulted in a slight decrease in heart rate at the end of the work shift and a marginal increase in participants' blood oxygen levels. Background music enhanced working memory (p-value = 0.001), sustained attention (p-value = 0.001), and improved the task performance of workers(p-value = 0.005). Additionally, likely due to increased relaxation, it led to a decrease in heart rate (p-value = 0.001) and an increase in blood oxygen levels (p-value = 0.016). Music also played a role in reducing participants' sleepiness (p-value = 0.001). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nigeria's triple music heritage of traditional, Islamic and Western music should have informed her formal music education curriculum. Instead, western music was used by the early Christian missionaries that it became difficult to integrate indigenous music traditions into the curriculum that music could not gain traction as a school subject across the country. In an effort to correct the defect a bi-musical curriculum of western and African traditional music was designed by the Nsukka Music School (NMS). Although the change was epistemologically right, the bi-musical curriculum confronted numerous challenges during implementation. This paper identifies the challenges and discusses how they were addressed. Data were obtained through interviews of key informants and a review of relevant literature. The challenge of stereotyping music and musicians was solved by students proving their mettle among their peers. Non-acceptance of music within the academia and society, was not addressed throughout the period. Difficulty of finding music lecturers was ameliorated by employing expatriates and some Nigerians but the latter undertook graduate studies abroad. Lack of scholars and traditional practitioners in the theoretical and practical aspects of African music knowledge was solved through awarding research grants for traditional African music, and hiring traditional musicians to teach indigenous instruments. Challenges arising from low student registration were ameliorated by creating alternative entry requirements for music while encouraging non-music majors to register for music ensemble courses. The challenge of poor musical background of the foundation music majors was tackled by passing them through an accelerated program and creating an enabling environment for teaching and learning. The solutions to the challenges enabled NMS to graduate students that were musically competent and socially relevant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of AugenBlick is the property of Schueren Verlag GmbH and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

PurposeDesign/methodology/approachFindingsResearch implicationsPractical implicationsOriginalityThis study investigates the sound features of short video advertisements (ads) released by enterprises entering the social e-commerce market and tests whether they are potential drivers of enterprise performance. Based on these findings, this study provides practical references for the design of enterprise ads and short-video social e-commerce platforms.An integrated approach comprising machine learning algorithms and various statistical analysis techniques was employed to quantify sound features. Subsequently, we conducted correlation tests, regression analyses, and robustness tests to further verify our measurements and hypotheses.Sound features in advertisements directly influence an enterprise’s market entry performance. We found that speech rate and voice quality positively affected market entry performance, while loudness and voice pitch negatively impacted performance. In addition, the tempo of the background music positively influences performance.Operating within a cohesive research framework, this study extensively examines the effects of key sound features on enterprise performance. This study also contributes to broadening the academic literature related to the heuristic-systematic model theory and extends audio analysis methods to the social e-commerce market entry field, providing empirical evidence of the impact of sound features on the market entry performance of enterprises.The findings emphasize that enterprises should comprehend the role of sound features and utilize them appropriately when designing ads to be released upon entering the short video social e-commerce market. Furthermore, by considering the findings and audio analysis technologies, platforms can identify user references for sound more precisely and provide enterprises with more guidelines for sound design.This is the first empirical study to discuss the impact of sound features in short video ads on enterprises’ market-entry performance. Additionally, it combines the social e-commerce platform context and expands enterprise market entry to the most popular short video market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the impact of background binaural music on educational attainment within the context of a natural experiment. In a university business school, 73 undergraduate students participated in this study, providing a maximum of 707 observations at 16 points in time. The students were divided into three groups (Microeconomics A and B, and International Economics) and were further categorized into control and experimental groups at different stages of the courses. All students attended classes from January to June 2021, with the addition of binaural music as a treatment in either the first or second part of the courses (divided into three parts). After each lecture, students completed a multiple-choice quiz designed to assess their learning during the lecture. Utilizing t-tests for mean comparisons and panel data econometric techniques, the study found that the scores of the experimental groups were significantly higher than those of the control groups. Overall, binaural music was observed to increase quiz scores by 8 to 20 basis points. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insomnia, a prevalent sleep disorder in contemporary society, frequently coexists with other mental health conditions such as depression, schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Sleep disorders can compromise daytime functioning and overall quality of life. While music has been explored as an adjunct therapy for insomnia, its efficacy in improving insomnia among students remains unclear. Seventy-five students, aged between 18 and 30 years with an average age of 20.97 years (SD: 1.92), presenting sleep issues were randomly allocated to one of three groups: the classical music group, the jazz music group, and the control group, each with 25 participants. Participants in the classical and jazz music group were instructed to listen to classical or jazz music for a minimum of 30 min preceding bedtime. This was paired with deep breathing and relaxation techniques, practiced two consecutive nights per week from 23:00 to 01:00 over a five-week intervention period. Conversely, participants in the control group were only directed to follow the deep breathing and relaxation techniques before sleep on two consecutive nights weekly. Insomnia severity with the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), depressive symptoms with the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI- II), and anxiety symptoms with the Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS). Measurements were taken at baseline, after the second week of intervention, at the intervention's conclusion (five weeks), and two months post-intervention (follow-up). 1. The music groups showed a significant difference in insomnia severity compared with the control group after five weeks of intervention(p <.05). 2. music groups exhibited significant enhancements in sleep quality relative to the control group after a five-week intervention (p <.05). 3. Regarding mood enhancement, music groups showed significant improvements in depression and anxiety symptoms compared to the baseline after the five-week intervention. Notably, the control group also displayed improvements in these symptoms post-intervention. 1. Integrating music into a consistent bedtime routine ameliorates sleep quality and insomnia severity. However, no specific genre of music emerged as the superior choice for pre-sleep listening. 2. While music can considerably enhance mood indicators like depression and anxiety, techniques such as deep breathing and mindfulness also contribute positively. 3. Incorporating music before sleep tangibly elevates overall quality of life and daytime functioning. ChiCTR2300073953. • The trial is the first to assess the impact of bedtime music combined with relaxation techniques in college students with insomnia. • Integrating music into a consistent bedtime routine ameliorates sleep quality and insomnia severity. • Incorporating music before sleep tangibly elevates overall quality of life and daytime functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Music therapy is a rapidly evolving multidisciplinary field. But there has been no research analyzing the latest research status and development trends in this research field from a macro perspective. We aim to identify hotspots, knowledge base, and frontiers in the field of music therapy through bibliometric analysis. Methods: All data were retrieved from the Web of Science core database from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2022.CiteSpace and Bibliometrix software were employed for bibliometric analysis and visualization analysis. Results: A total of 2,397 articles were included. In the past decade, there has been a consistent increase in the number of publications. The countries and institutions with the largest production in this field are the USA and the University of London. Based on the analysis of the total number of citations, centrality, and production, the results show that the most influential journals are PLoS One and Cochrane Database Syst Rev. Keyword co-occurrence analysis and highly cited study analysis are mainly used to analyze research hotspots in the field of music therapy, while the keyword burst analysis is employed to explore frontiers and potential developmental trends. Hot keywords include "interventions", "anxiety" and "randomized controlled trial". The burst keywords include "validity", "preterm infants", and "mild cognitive impairment". In the ranking of highly cited study, the top ranked studies are "Music-based interventions in neurological rehabilitation" and "Music interventions for improving psychological and physical outcomes in cancer patients". Conclusion: In the past decade, the research focus in music therapy was the effect of music therapy on neurological diseases and the improvement of psychological symptoms such as pain and anxiety. The neurophysiological mechanisms that bring about these therapeutic effects need to be future researched. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spread of multimodal coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) misinformation on social media poses considerable public health risks. Yet limited research has addressed the efficacy of citizen-contributed, multimodal debunking messages, especially the roles of audiovisual structural features. In a between-subject online experiment, we assessed the impacts of misleading TikTok videos promoting the false claim that COVID-19 vaccines cause infertility and compared the effectiveness of debunking videos from medical experts vs. laypeople. We independently varied the presence of background music. Results showed that while misleading TikTok videos increased misperceptions, most debunking videos effectively countered such misinformation. Notably, compared with laypeople's testimonial corrections, expert didactic videos benefited more from incorporating high-tempo background music, primarily through the suppression of counterarguing rather than through enhanced encoding. These findings underscore the importance to consider audiovisual structural features, such as background music, as well as the cognitive pathway through distracted counterarguing, in future research on multimodal misinformation and correction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies have explored the effects of background music on reading comprehension, however, little is known about how native language (L1) lyrics and second language (L2) lyrics in background music influence reading comprehension performance for college students. The present study used a mixed experimental design to examine the effects of listening habits (betweenparticipants variable: non-listeners or listeners), music type (betweenparticipants variable: L1 (Mandarin) pop music, L2 (English) pop music or no music) and text language (within-participants variable: L1 or L2) on reading comprehension of college students in East China. A total of 90 participants (50 females) were screened into non- listeners (n = 45) and listeners (n = 45), and then were randomly assigned to one of three groups: Mandarin pop music group (n = 30), English pop music group (n = 30) and no music group (n = 30). The results showed that reading comprehension performance was negatively affected by music with lyrics compared to the no music condition. Furthermore, Chinese/English reading comprehension was reduced more by pop music in the same language as the written texts. As expected, non-listeners were more negatively affected by music with lyrics than listeners. For both listeners and nonlisteners, average reading comprehension accuracy rates were the lowest in the condition of music with native language lyrics. Overall, our research findings indicate that listening to pop music with lyrics reduces reading comprehension performance. However, listening to background music cause much less distraction if the students commonly listen to music while reading. The current study supports the duplex-mechanism account of auditory distraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Music training facilitates the development of individual cognitive functions and influences brain plasticity. A comprehensive understanding of the pathways and processes through which music affects the human brain, as well as the neurobiological mechanisms underlying human brain perception of music, is necessary to fully harness the plasticity that music offers for brain development. Aims: To investigate the resting-state electroencephalogram (EEG) activity of individuals with and without music training experience, and explore the microstate patterns of EEG signals. Method: In this study, an analysis of electroencephalogram (EEG) microstates from 57 participants yielded temporal parameters(mean duration, time coverage, occurrence, and transition probability)of four classic microstate categories (Categories A, B, C, and D) for two groups: those with music training experience and those without. Statistical analysis was conducted on these parameters between groups. Results: The results indicate that compared to individuals without music training experience, participants with music training experience exhibit significantly longer mean durations of microstate A, which is associated with speech processing. Additionally, they show a greater time coverage of microstate B, which is associated with visual processing. Transition probabilities from microstate A to microstate B were greater in participants with music training experience compared to those without. Conversely, transition probabilities from microstate A to microstate C and from microstate C to microstate D were greater in participants without music training experience. Conclusion: Our study found differences in characteristic parameters of certain microstates between individuals with and without music training experience. This suggests distinct brain activity patterns during tasks related to speech, vision, and attention regulation among individuals with varying levels of music training experience. These findings support an association between music training experience and specific neural activities. Furthermore, they endorse the hypothesis of music training experience influencing brain activity during resting states. Additionally, they imply a facilitative role of music training in tasks related to speech, vision, and attention regulation, providing initial evidence for further empirical investigation into the cognitive processes influenced by music training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a new edited collection of essays titled "Sounds, Ecologies, Musics" by Aaron S. Allen and Jeff Todd Titon. The collection explores the intersection between music, sound, and ecology, aiming to clarify the concept of "ecologies" in music studies. The book covers a wide range of topics, including sonic understandings of natural environments, traditional and indigenous ecological knowledge, and interdisciplinary perspectives on music and sound. The collection emphasizes the need for a relational understanding of ecologies and highlights the shift towards environmental and social justice in ecomusicology. Overall, the book offers diverse perspectives and contributions to the field of music studies. [Extracted from the article]

Background: The use of music in cognitive interventions represents a possibility with potential worthy of further investigation in the field of aging, both in terms of prevention from dementia, in the phase of mild cognitive impairment, and in the treatment of overt dementia. Objectives: Currently, the types of music-based interventions proposed in the literature are characterized by wide heterogeneity, which is why it is necessary to clarify which interventions present more evidence of effectiveness in stimulating different cognitive domains. Method: The study was conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines for scoping reviews. By searching two different databases, PubMed and the Web of Science, all studies evaluating the cognitive effects of music-based interventions on people at early stages of cognitive decline (MCI or mild-to-moderate dementia) were selected. Results: The study selection included a total of 28 studies involving n = 1612 participants (mean age ranged from 69.45 to 85.3 years old). Most of the studies analyzed agree with the observation of an improvement, or at least maintenance, of global cognitive conditions (mainly represented by the results of the MMSE test) following music-based interventions, together with a series of other positive effects on verbal fluency, memory, and executive processes. Conclusions: The results of this review suggest the introduction of music-based interventions as complementary approaches to usual cognitive treatments. Also, the use of standardized and well-defined protocols, in addition to strong methodological research approaches, is suggested. Music-based interventions are recommended in the early stages of dementia, in MCI, and in a preventive sense in healthy older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Music identification is widely regarded as a solved problem for music searching in quiet environments, but its performance tends to degrade in TV broadcast audio owing to the presence of dialogue or sound effects. In addition, constructing an accurate dataset for measuring the performance of background music monitoring in TV broadcast audio is challenging. We propose a framework for monitoring background music by automatic identification and introduce a background music cue sheet. The framework comprises three main components: music identification, music–speech separation, and music detection. In addition, we introduce the Cue‐K‐Drama dataset, which includes reference songs, audio tracks from 60 episodes of five Korean TV drama series, and corresponding cue sheets that provide the start and end timestamps of background music. Experimental results on the constructed and existing datasets demonstrate that the proposed framework, which incorporates music identification with music–speech separation and music detection, effectively enhances TV broadcast audio monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Music has been reported to facilitate motor performance. However, there is no data on the effects of different acoustic environmental stimuli on manual dexterity. The present observational study aimed at investigating the effects of background music and noise on a manual dexterity task in young, middle-aged and elderly subjects. Sixty healthy, right-handed subjects aged between 18 and 80 years were enrolled. Twenty young (mean age: 22±2 years), 20 middle-aged (mean age: 55±8 years) and 20 elderly (mean age: 72±5 years) subjects performed the Nine Hole Peg Test (NHPT) in four different acoustic environments: silence (noise < 20dBA), classical music at 60dBA, rock music at 70 dBA, and a noise stimulus at 80dBA. Performance was recorded using an optical motion capture system and retro-reflective markers (SMART DX, 400, BTS). Outcome measures included the total test time and peg-grasp, peg-transfer, peg-in-hole, hand-return, and removing phases times. Normalized jerk, mean and peak of velocity during transfer and return phases were also computed. No differences were found for NHPT phases and total times, normalized jerk, peak of velocity and mean velocity between four acoustic conditions (p>0.05). Between-group differences were found for NHPT total time, where young subjects revealed better performance than elderly (p˂0.001) and middle-aged (p˂0.001) groups. Music and noise stimuli in the considered range of intensity had no influence on the execution of a manual dexterity task in young, middle-aged and elderly subjects. These findings may have implications for working, sportive and rehabilitative activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose an intuitive image-to-music retrieval (IMR) framework to improve the user experience on these platforms. The proposed method extracts mood and theme tags by searching for images from a pre-built database that are similar to a query image and then retrieves music with matching tag information. We investigated the system's effectiveness by comparing participants' satisfaction, intention to use, and valence between those who interacted with the system and those who did not. We also examined whether using mood or theme attributes affected the user-perceived suitability of the retrieved music. Results showed that all three variables of the interaction group were significantly higher than that of the non-interaction group and that there was no difference in the perceived suitability of music between the mood and theme attributes. Our study concludes that image attributes are effective in successful music retrieval and that interaction is a crucial factor in designing IMR systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This prospective crossover study aimed to investigate the effect of binaural beat therapy music on soccer player performance. Between July 2023 and December 2023, 45 athletes (31 females/14 males, mean age = 20.47 ± 0.99) wore Bluetooth earphones through which one of the following was given during initial 20 min warm-up exercises before undergoing repeated sprint ability tests: no music/fast-tempo music/fast-tempo music with background binaural beat therapy music. Heart rate change after warm-up exercises/repeated sprint ability (RSA) tests and the time to finish RSA tests were recorded. Despite no significant difference in heart rate increase after warm-up between the two genders regardless of intervention, larger increases after RSA tests were found in males following any of the three interventions (all p < 0.01) with the most notable difference observed after fast-tempo music (p < 0.0001). A significant effect size (r = 0.2) correlated with fast-tempo music during warm-up in either gender. Binaural beat therapy music during warm-up reached a significant effect size only when all participants were considered, suggesting limited benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multisensory‐rich VR experiences, which encompass visual, auditory, and haptic stimuli, have the potential to enhance engagement, motivation, and learning. However, extensive sensory stimuli could also compromise learning through sensory overload. In museum settings, visitors who are inundated with excessive stimuli such as unrelated background music or competing visual options may not experience optimal learning. This mixed‐methods study addressed this potential problem by exploring the impact of sound on learning, enjoyment, sense of presence, and the development of interest among museum attendees (N = 255) who used two different types of technology: high‐immersion VR or a tablet. Results from a one‐way MANOVA revealed that learning and sense of presence were unaffected by the technology used unless sound was added. Using a tablet with sound lowered the sense of presence. Participants in the VR condition with or without sound had significantly higher enjoyment scores than those in either tablet condition. The development of interest was not significantly affected by any condition, regardless of whether sound was used. The research findings have implications for implementing VR for learning in museum settings. For instance, VR can enhance a sense of presence in museum exhibits, but a sense of presence may be significantly diminished when museum visitors use tablets with sound. Additional recommendations for the use of multimodal VR in museums are provided. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic VR can support an immersive and engaging experience for users.VR is more immersive than tablets.When designed effectively, sound can increase immersion and engagement.When integrated into the visual environment, sound can add authenticity to the learning content.VR can complement museum exhibits as it allows museum visitors to extend their learning experiences.What this paper adds VR enriched with sound can significantly and positively impact sense of presence.Compared with a soundless VR exhibition, VR enriched with sound enhances engagement of museum visitors by drawing their attention to the content of the exhibits.VR with and without sound can support learning and add enjoyment to museum visitor experiences.Implications for practice and/or policy Developers interested in adding sound to VR should ensure that the visual and auditory experiences are directly related to the desired content delivery.Museum exhibit creators and curators should consider the use of VR to provide dynamic learning experiences that increase enjoyment and presence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on evaluating music as a mood regulator in Slovakia using the Music in Mood Regulation Scale (MMR). It investigates how effectively the MMR tool, originally developed in Finland, can be adapted to Slovak conditions. It aims to identify how music influences mood regulation in Slovak respondents, analyze differences in mood regulation strategies based on demographic factors such as age and gender.

Cognitive deterioration and gait balance disturbances are the core symptoms of idiopathic normal pressure patients with normal pressure hydrocephalus -- NHP (J. Larson et al, 2021). The manifestations caused by NPH directly foul the patient's autonomy. Rehabilitation in NPH and supervised physical exercise are important factors to improve patient's functions (J. Rydja et al, 2021). Music therapy and background music have cognitive, psychosocial, behavioural, and motor benefits for people with neurological disorders. Various forms and genres of music can be engaging, emotional, physical, personal, social, persuasive, and music also promotes synchronization of movement (O. Brancatisano et al., 2020). The process of music therapy intervention was structured and designed according to American Music Therapy Association (2005) in a 3-step process of preparation, implementation, and evaluation. Background music and instrumental and movement music activities were aimed at relaxation and cognitive stimulation in a patient with NPH during physiotherapy. In instrumental activities three music instruments were used, two Orff instruments a tambourine, a rattle, and a plastic string resembling an accordion (made from recycled material) -- to improve the range of movements, strength, endurance, and coordination of the upper limb bilaterally and to improve walking motor skills. Furthermore, we selected background music according to the patient's taste and choice. The music genres in our sessions were electronic music, pop, and relaxing jazz: The music styles were Synth-pop, Ambient, Disco, Eurodance, Dance-pop and Relaxing jazz. A total of 5 music therapy sessions were held within two months. Each session lasted for 60 min. We observed the following changes in the patient: The mechanism of regulation of fine motor movements was affected in his upper arm bilaterally, and communication skills were also improved. The gross motor skills in upper arm improved bilaterally. The walking speed was more pronounced, and his submaximal performance distance was extended. During background music the patient myofascially relaxed -- the spasticity began to subside, and music induced psychological and physical well-being on his emotional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Manual hand dexterity involves highly coordinated hand motions for completion of specific tasks, which is crucial for various military activities such as hand-to-hand combat and practical drills. This response is usually a learned behaviour and can be influenced by the body's physiological responses to external stimuli such as background music. In this study, the effect of background music tempo on manual hand dexterity was investigated. A total of 50 male subjects aged 18 to 26 years were administered a manual hand dexterity test with a Purdue Pegboard under three conditions: no background music, slow-tempo classical music and fast-tempo classical music. The order of the music conditions was determined randomly. Mean dexterity values for no music, slow-tempo classical music and fast-tempo classical music were 51.34 ± 6.26, 50.30 ± 6.34 and 52.32 ± 6.82 respectively. Repeated measures ANOVA followed by post-hoc analysis for Bonferroni correction showed no statistically significant differences between the three music conditions, indicating that manual hand dexterity is not affected by different types of background music. The main finding of this study is that listening to slow- and fast-tempo music did not have statistically significant effect on manual dexterity scores among the subjects. This indicates that other factors such as familiarisation, rhythmic auditory stimulation and sufficient time are needed concurrently for the effects to be prominent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patients undergoing radiation therapy (RT) often experience anxiety, which may jeopardize the treatment success. The efficacy of music interventions in reducing anxiety remains contentious. This randomized trial aimed to evaluate the impact of music listening on anxiety symptoms in patients undergoing initial RT. Methods: First-time RT patients were randomly allocated to experimental and control groups. The Brief Symptom Rating Scale (BSRS-5), Distress Thermometer (DT), and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI-C) were administered pre- and post-RT. Changes in physiological anxiety symptoms were monitored over 10 consecutive days starting from the first day of RT. The experimental group received music during RT; the control group did not. The generalized linear mixed model was used to estimate the pre–post difference in the BSRS-5, DT, and BAI-C scores between the music intervention and control group. Results: This study included 50 patients each in the experimental and control groups. BSRS-5 and DT scores were significantly reduced in the experimental group post-RT (p = 0.0114 and p = 0.0023, respectively). When music listening was discontinued, these scores rebounded. While the posttest BAI-C score was significantly lower in the experimental group (p < 0.0001), the pre–post difference between the two groups was not significant (p = 0.0619). On cessation of music listening, the BAI-C score also rebounded. Conclusions: For cancer patients undergoing initial RT, music listening intervention significantly reduced anxiety symptoms measured using the BSRS-5, DT, and BAI-C scores after two weeks. Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of music listening intervention in reducing anxiety symptoms, thereby potentially improving the quality of life of cancer patients undergoing RT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In October 2020, the B2B (business-to-business) background music company Soundtrack Your Brand—formerly Spotify Business—launched the world’s first full-catalog on-demand streaming service for background music. Although background music providers have licensed, curated, and distributed music to businesses for nearly a century, they have only recently started embracing the new possibilities of streaming. Now, streaming is rapidly influencing the background music industry’s features, music selection practices, and economics. While scholars in music and media studies have extensively studied B2C (business-to-consumer) streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music, they have largely neglected streaming’s impact on background music. This article investigates how streaming is impacting the B2B background music industry, drawing upon platform analysis, marketing materials, and interviews with background music CEOs and researchers. After reviewing background music’s history and effects, the article examines how streaming is influencing business-oriented background music features, such as scheduling, zoning, messaging, and monitoring. It then considers streaming’s impact on background music selection practices, demonstrating how businesses are increasingly using features popularized by mainstream consumer services, such as playlists, algorithmic recommendations, and massive catalogs of music. The final section explores how streaming is shaping the economics of the background music industry, particularly for rightsholders who have historically been underpaid billions of dollars in public performance royalties. I argue that streaming may improve background music’s efficiency for businesses, but it also potentially reifies broader concerns about social control, surveillance, and inequitable artist remuneration that have become increasingly prevalent in the streaming age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Object-oriented micro-video background music recommendation is a complicated task where the matching degree between videos and background music is a major issue. However, music selections in user-generated content (UGC) are prone to selection bias caused by historical preferences of uploaders. Since historical preferences are not fully reliable and may reflect obsolete behaviors, over-reliance on them should be avoided as knowledge and interests dynamically evolve. In this article, we propose a Deconfounded Cross-Modal matching model to mitigate such bias. Specifically, uploaders' personal preferences of music genres are identified as confounders that spuriously correlate music embeddings and background music selections, causing the learned system to over-recommend music from majority groups. To resolve such confounders, backdoor adjustment is utilized to deconfound the spurious correlation between music embeddings and prediction scores. We further utilize Monte Carlo estimator with batch-level average as the approximations to avoid integrating the entire confounder space calculated by the adjustment. Furthermore, we design a teacher–student network to utilize the matching of music videos, which is professionally generated content (PGC) with specialized matching, to better recommend content-matching background music. The PGC data are modeled by a teacher network to guide the matching of uploader-selected UGC data of student network by Kullback–Leibler–based knowledge transfer. Extensive experiments on the TT-150k-genre dataset demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. The code is publicly available on https://github.com/jing-1/DecCM [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present our experience with designing and implementing the preparation of a class of fifth-grade students prior to attending an educational concert within the requirements of the official school curriculum. Based on the scientific evidence regarding preference and familiarity with music, the rationale for the lesson plans was to increase the familiarity of the students with the music they would hear in the concert through a variety of activities which met with requirement of the set curriculum. We present key points from our lesson plans as well as the reaction of the students to the lessons. With a background in both music education and mediation, we planned the lessons and created our own materials for the preparation, based on: a) analysis of the repertoire of the educational concert by a woodwind quintet; b) analysis of the requirement of the school curriculum of the Romanian Ministry of Education in the subject Musical education for schools teaching in Hungarian language; c) analysis of some resource materials for teachers, prepared by symphony orchestras for concerts with similar repertoire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the extent to which the music of the 1960s counterculture, as opposed to the mainstream popular music of that era, impacted early second-wave environmental organisations in the 1960s and early 1970s. In this context, both a chi-square independence test and a Fisher's exact test of independence show that, based upon a corpus of environmental songs, secondwave environmentalism is featured more prominently in song lyrics which can be ascribed to countercultural popular musical genres than in song lyrics which can be ascribed to mainstream popular musical genres. Nevertheless, Cramér's V hints at a weak strength of association between these phenomena, and a qualitative analysis of the potential influence of the music of the 1960s counterculture on second-wave environmentalism substantiates the fact that the music of the counterculture neither had an impact on frame bridging nor on frame transformation processes. Consequently, it can be stated that a potential role of popular music in the amplification of second-wave pro-environmental frames during the investigated time period would have to be linked to both mainstream and countercultural musical genres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background music in OTT services significantly enhances narratives and conveys emotions, yet users with hearing impairments might not fully experience this emotional context. This paper illuminates the pivotal role of background music in user engagement on OTT platforms. It introduces a novel system designed to mitigate the challenges the hearing-impaired face in appreciating the emotional nuances of music. This system adeptly identifies the mood of background music and translates it into textual subtitles, making emotional content accessible to all users. The proposed method extracts key audio features, including Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC), Root Mean Square (RMS), and MEL Spectrograms. It then harnesses the power of leading machine learning algorithms Logistic Regression, Random Forest, AdaBoost, and Support Vector Classification (SVC) to analyze the emotional traits embedded in the music and accurately identify its sentiment. Among these, the Random Forest algorithm, applied to MFCC features, demonstrated exceptional accuracy, reaching 94.8% in our tests. The significance of this technology extends beyond mere feature identification; it promises to revolutionize the accessibility of multimedia content. By automatically generating emotionally resonant subtitles, this system can enrich the viewing experience for all, particularly those with hearing impairments. This advancement not only underscores the critical role of music in storytelling and emotional engagement but also highlights the vast potential of machine learning in enhancing the inclusivity and enjoyment of digital entertainment across diverse audiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Drawing on the S-O-R model, this study aims to investigate the influence of three stimuli from AI-modified music (i.e., event relevance, lyric resonance, and AI-singer origins), two responses from social media content consumers (i.e., audience interpretation and emotional resonance) on the social media engagement of personalized background music modified by artificial intelligence (AI). Methods: The structural equation modeling analyses of 467 social media content consumers' responses confirmed the role of those three stimuli and the mediating effect of audience interpretation and emotional resonance in shaping social media engagement. Results: The findings shed light on the underlying mechanisms that drive social media engagement in the context of AI-modified background music created for non-professional content creators. Discussion: The theoretical and practical implications of this study advance our understanding of social media engagement with AI-singer-originated background music and provide a basis for future investigations into this rapidly evolving phenomenon in the gig economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The acoustics of nature gave people many musical ideas, and people enriched musical features and performance skills with the ability of a person to imitate the surrounding sound effects. Imitating and studing the audio nature, man learned to create instruments, and over time, based on instrumental modifications and many different, artificially created rules, he developed a variety of sounds (including electronic music) and principles of the different type of the composition techniques. With this approach, music moved away from its real environment and, as a result of the formation of aesthetic norms by a human, was separated from the general sound of the universe. The true echo of this problem is a question and suggestion of the famous 20th century Italian composer Ferruccio Busoni: "How can music return to its primitive, natural essence? .. .Let us free it from architectonic, acoustic, and aesthetic dogmas;"[3] Since 2023 a group of research-composers from the Vano Sarajishvili Tbilisi State Conservatoire - Maka Virsaladze, Alexander Chokhonelidze, Joni Asitashvili under the leadership of Eka Chabashvili - inspired by the above-mentioned question, are trying to answer F.Busoni through the artistic research "Specifics of composing and performing eco-music works created for 'Sound Oasis''. This project is carried out within the framework of the fundamental research "Implementation of Ecomusicology Research Methodology for the Study of the Georgian Music Ecosystem" [FR-22-8174] conducted by them, which is funded by Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia (SRNSFG). Consultant of the project is American musicologist Aaron S. Allen, who is the author of various books about ecomusicology. In the music of the 20th and 21st centuries, there is a growing interest in environmental sounds. Many composers of this period incorporate recorded environmental sounds into their music or imitate sounds of neture using the different effects of the instruments. The main goal of the Georgian researchers is to create a modern compositional method to compose an eco-music piece, where an artificial source of music (recording, instrument) interacts with live ambient sound, which is incorporated into the texture of the piece. They are studing the eco-system of the urban and suburban soundscape in Georgia and are looking for the ways to restore the principles of the approach of the peoples of ancient culture to music, when sound of the environment was introduced into the music. Mentioned composers studied the soundscape of one of the Sound Oasis and found compositional methods to include its acoustical features and anvironmental sounds in the texture of the piece composed specifically for the selected Sound Oasis. We present to you compositional methods of eco-musical work - an interactive experimental performance "Let's Listen to the Cave", created as a result of the research; it took place in an alternative concert space -the Cave of Prometheus, which the researchers called "Oases of Sound". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The current study examined the effects of music on Hazard Perception – a skill that serves as a proxy for safe driving. Background: There is contradictory evidence whether or not music engagement leads to decremented driver performance and compromises traffic safety. Method: In the study, 36 participants performed a standard Video-Based Hazard Perception Test under three aural conditions: Road and Traffic Sounds (RS); RS + Driver-Preferred Music; RS + Alternative Music. Results: The results show no effect of aural backgrounds (including music) on the situation awareness portion of the driving task. Conclusion: Music background might affect later stages of the driving task such as response selection and/or response execution (mitigation). Application: The investigation of human factors related to vehicular control should include how (where) music might trigger failures in perception and/or behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND Music listening has been found to be effective in reducing stress levels with different participant samples. Relatively little evidence has been obtained from people with high neurotic tendency (HNT), whose dispositional psychological characteristics might dampen the effect of music listening. This study therefore tried to examine the immediate effect of music listening in reducing stressful feelings of participants with either high or low neurotic tendency. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE Seventy-nine undergraduate participants who were identified as having either HNT or low neurotic tendency (LNT) accomplished a stressful task before listening to a comforting music piece. Negative affect (NA) scores and heart rate were measured at different phases. RESULTS Results in a within-subjects analysis showed that the stressor and music listening could significantly alter the stressful feeling of both participant groups. Although the percentage changes in heart rate were similar between the groups, the changes of NA score which were measured after either the stressful task or the music listening session were consistently lower in the HNT group than the LNT group. CONCLUSIONS The divergence revealed a loose connection between the subjective feelings and the bodily changes in the HNT group, which could be important for clinicians and practitioners to take into consideration in psychology when evaluating the stressful feelings for their clients with HNT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]