& Maeshiro, 2011). For instance, deciding how to frame a harmonic accompaniment in the context of a newly composed melody, how to extend an improvisation by using a motive heard earlier, or how to produce a hit song that results in millions of sales. Psychologists have begun to examine how composers make choices as part of the creative process (see Impett, 2016, for a review) or how musicians decide which note to play next while impro- vising (see Ashley, 2016, for a review). However, the decision making process underlying music composition and improvisation is still poorly understood and, therefore, could benefit significantly by considering insights from other disciplines, such as theoretical modelling and utility theory from economics.
Decision making also plays a fundamental role in music performance evaluation (see Waddell, 2018, for a review). Yet research on this topic within the field of music psychology raises serious questions about the reliability and consistency of music performance evaluation (Waddell, 2018). For example, jurors’ decisions in a high profile musical competition were significantly influenced by the order in which the candidates performed:
those who performed first had a lower chance to win the competition, whereas those who performed later had a higher chance (Flôres & Ginsburgh, 1996). Other studies have identified several non-musical factors that can significantly bias the evaluation of music performances, including musicians’ body movements (Wöllner & Behne, 2011), race and gender (Elliott, 1995), and physical attractiveness (Griffiths, 2008). These findings illustrate the need to better understand and improve decision making processes in the context of evaluating music performances, such as increasing awareness between experts or using evaluative methods that are less prone to human errors.
Music decision making is also central to the study of music preferences and listening behaviour (see Lamont & Greasley, 2016; Lamont, Greasley, & Sloboda, 2016, for reviews).
Advances in technology have played a major role in the way people listen to music in daily life, enabling them to listen to music in a wide variety of situations, such as whilst working, exercising, travelling, or relaxing (Lamont et al., 2016). In these contexts, researchers have identified several psychological needs that underlie listening behaviour, including distraction, motivation, attention, emotional regulation, and stress reduction (e.g., Greb, Schlotz, & Steffens, 2018; Linnemann, Wenzel, Grammes, Kubiak, & Nater, 2018;
Saarikallio & Erkkilä, 2007). Nevertheless, despite the wide range of psychological approaches that have been used to investigate music preferences and listening behaviour, there is currently no unified theory that has successfully addressed the complexities of this topic and there is no model that can predict accurately a person’s preference or choice for music at any given point in time (Lamont & Greasley, 2016).
Finally, the process of selecting music in applied contexts is heavily reliant on our under- standing of music decision making. A clear example is the use of music in advertising and branding. In this context, choosing an effective music branding strategy can have a positive impact on consumers’ buying behaviour and attitudes towards brands (see Allan, 2007;
1.2 Music decision making in economics 3
North & Hargreaves, 2008; Oakes, 2007, for reviews). Nevertheless, a failure to adequately use music can result in detrimental effects on communication effectiveness and consumer behaviour (Allan, 2007; Lantos & Craton, 2012). Moreover, industry professionals often rely on their gut instinct and personal experience to make musical choices (Schramm &
Spangardt, 2016). Thus, when choosing music for advertising is important to improve current practices by designing efficient, reliable, and unbiased methods.
Overall, music psychology has examined music decision making in a wide variety of sit- uations. However, this body of research is still relatively young and would benefit from using a more sophisticated and unified understanding of the processes underlying human judgments and decision making. This could be achieved by incorporating knowledge from other disciplines that have been long concerned with the study of human decision making, such as economics.
1.2 Music decision making in economics
Independent from music psychology, music-related decision making has also been studied through the lens of economics (see Byun, 2016; Cameron, 2015, 2016; Krueger, 2005;
Tschmuck, 2017, for reviews). This research is mostly focused on economic decision making related to music, such as the behaviour of firms in the music industry (Burke, 1996;
Sweeting, 2013; Rayna & Striukova, 2009), the economy of live music events (Decrop &
Derbaix, 2014; Hiller, 2016; Holt, 2010; Larsen & Hussels, 2011; Mortimer, Nosko, &
Sorensen, 2012), predicting music popularity in the charts (Bradlow & Fader, 2001; Elliott
& Simmons, 2011; Hendricks & Sorensen, 2009; Stevans & Sessions, 2005; Strobl &
Tucker, 2000), music consumption (Byun, 2016; Cameron, 2015), and music copyright and piracy (see Oberholzer-Gee & Strumpf, 2009; Varian, 2005, for reviews).
This body of research provides valuable insights to understand key phenomena that influence music consumption and shape the music market. For example, studies have found associ- ations between economic conditions and changes in the characteristics of popular music over time (Maymin, 2012; Pettijohn & Sacco, 2009; Pettijohn, Eastman, & Richard, 2012; Zullow, 1991): songs with faster tempo were most popular in good economic and social times (Pettijohn et al., 2012), whereas pessimistic rumination in popular music lyrics signifi- cantly predicted changes in consumption expenditures and General National Product (GNP) growth (Zullow, 1991). The economic effects of music piracy (illegally downloading and sharing music) have also generated great interest amongst economists (see Oberholzer-Gee & Strumpf, 2009; Varian, 2005). This is, in part, because the controversial results in the literature: while some studies show a relationship between the rise of music piracy and the decline in music sales (e.g., Liebowitz, 2004, 2006), others found little evidence for this causal relationship (e.g., Oberholzer-Gee & Strumpf, 2009). Another area of interest in the economics literature is the growing importance of the live music business. Here, studies suggest that the large decline in artists’ income from record sales has led to the increase in
1.2 Music decision making in economics 4
price for concert tickets (Larsen & Hussels, 2011; Mortimer et al., 2012; Tschmuck, 2017), which grew by 82% from 1996 to 2003 (Krueger, 2005).
The economic literature on music-related decision making relies on a simple but powerful model of behaviour put forward by standard economics: when making judgments and decisions, people do so by maximizing a utility function, using all information available, and processing this information with the appropriate time and mental resources (see Coleman & Fararo, 1992, for one of many reviews on rational choice theory). Thus, this body of research tends to assume that stakeholders such as composers, producers, artists, labels, and listeners are rational actors. This rational model of behaviour is useful in providing a coherent and internally consistent body of theory that offers rigorous and falsifiable models of human behaviour. For instance, using standard economics one can model a consumer’s rational choice between choosing to consume music over other goods, or the production and supply curves in a rational music market that leads to equilibrium price (Byun, 2016).
Overall, research on music decision making in economics provides highly valuable insights to understand how people consume music and key factors that shape the music market.
Nevertheless, this body of research focuses mostly on economic decision making and does not consider the psychological underpinnings known to be involved when people create, perform, listen to, and respond to music. Importantly, the assumption of rationality put forward by standard economics has been strongly challenged in the last years. For example, laboratory and field experiments in both psychology and economics show that when making judgments and decisions, people are limited by their mental capacity, use heuristics to solve complex problems, their preferences are inconsistent over time, and their choices are influenced by social information, their current emotional state, and the context (see Dellavigna, 2009, for a review).