FEELING THE BLUES: Evidence that Spotify listeners find comfort in nostalgic music choices during the Covid-19 pandemic
Toto, ELO, Queen … why hits from happier times top Covid lockdown playlists, The Guardian covers new CEPR Covid Economics research from Timothy Yu-Cheong Yeung on how Spotify users turn to music for the comfort of the familiar in times of trouble.
By analysing data from almost 17 trillion plays of songs on Spotify in six European countries, Yeung’s research provides evidence to suggest that the lockdown has significantly changed music consumption in terms of listeners’ feelings of nostalgia. The data shows that lockdown measures altered the trend of nostalgia consumption upward, peaking roughly 60 days after the policies were announced.
But Covid-19 incidence itself is not a significant explanatory power within the analysis, suggesting that the demand for nostalgia tends to respond to the drastic and lasting change caused by the lockdown, rather than to fluctuations in the viral infection.
But why the demand for older songs? Yeung speculates that “Negative emotions are various but they are similar in one dimension, which is it hurts and leads people to react, to amend, to try to counter the negative feelings. One possible way to recover – or to generate positive utility – is to seek nostalgia that reminds people of the good old days”.
The findings could have potential policy implications for care centres, hospitals, stores and any places where music could be played publicly – the positive effects of playing nostalgic music should be considered to help counter the adverse effects of the pandemic.