Music Information Seeking Research Articles

Motivations for music information seeking as serious leisure in a virtual community: exploring a Eurovision fan club

PurposeThis study aims to examine the motivations of a group of music fans of the Eurovision Song Contest to seek information about the competition and to participate in a virtual community of fans.Design/methodology/approachThe study draws from the uses and gratifications framework to understand the needs that a particular mass medium fulfills for its users. Fifteen Eurovision fans were interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule. Interviewees were asked to talk about how they seek information about the competition, to relate their engagement and participation with the virtual community and to reflect on the role that the community of fans and the Eurovision have in their lives.FindingsContent analysis revealed four themes that reflect the motivations that shape many aspects of participants lives, relating to seeking information about the Eurovision Song Contest, fulfilling the need for serious leisure, making social connections, finding a sense of belonging and forming an identity.Social implicationsThe study examines the motivations of a group of people who share a common interest that shaped the ways the seek information, related to others, view themselves and construct their identity and make social connections, all to satisfy their love and admiration for the competition, and this regardless of the societal stigma that the competition might carry.Originality/valueThis study extends the literature on serious leisure information seeking by exploring the role that information and social media play in different aspects serious leisure activities.

Music questions in social Q&A: an analysis of Yahoo! Answers

PurposeSocial question and answer (social Q&A) sites have become a popular tool for obtaining music information. The purpose of this paper is to investigate what users ask about, what experience the questions convey, and how users specify their questions.Design/methodology/approachA total of 3,897 music questions from the social Q&A site Yahoo! Answers were categorized according to their question type, user experience, and question specification.FindingsThe music questions were diverse with (dis)approval (42 percent), factual (21 percent), and advice (15 percent) questions as the most frequent types. Advice questions were the longest and roughly twice as long as (dis)approval and factual questions. The user experience associated with the questions was most often pragmatic (24 percent) or senso-emotional (12 percent). Pragmatic questions were typically about the user’s own performance of music, while senso-emotional questions were about finding music for listening. Notably, half of the questions did not convey information about the user experience but the absence of such information did not reduce the number of answers. In specifying the questions, the most frequent information was about the music context and the user context.Research limitations/implicationsThis study suggests a division of labor between social Q&A sites and search engines for music information retrieval. It should be noted that the study is restricted to one social Q&A site.Originality/valueSocial Q&A sites provide an opportunity for studying what information real users seek about music and what information they specify to retrieve it, thereby elucidating the role of social Q&A in music information seeking.

Music information seeking behaviour as motivator for musical creativity

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the connection between musicians’ information seeking behaviour and the creative process in music, providing a framework for understanding the role of information needs satisfaction in musical creativity. A number of studies in information science literature have been carried out attempting to model cognitive, affective, behavioural and contextual factors associated with music information seeking behaviour. However, only few studies have addressed the relationship between information seeking behaviour and musical creative activities such as composition, performance and improvisation, listening and analysis. Design/methodology/approach – The focus of this paper is to provide a framework for the study of information seeking behaviour for the purposes of satisfying musical creativity information needs, combining the theoretical basis of an established model of information behaviour developed by Wilson and the theoretical perspectives of a music creative thinking model proposed by Webster. The key features of the two models are synthesized in a unified model of information seeking behaviour for musical creativity and enriched with research findings identified in the literature of both musical information seeking and musical creativity. Findings – The proposed conceptual framework offers an integrated interpretation of the combinations of information needs, information resources and environmental/personal barriers, which enable musical creativity. In the authors’ approach “musical creativity” is treated as a musician’s aim or ambition or drive for expression and is influenced by the way musicians seek information for that purpose. Therefore, musical creativity is an intentional behaviour which acts as motivator for information seeking and is affected by the available information and the musician’s information seeking profile. The current study include three important findings: first, the design and development of music library and information services for musical creativity; second, the development of music information literacy skills for creativity; and third, the information seeking behavioural perspective for universal musical creativity, and the implications for cultural musical heritage diffusion around the world. Originality/value – An integrated information seeking behaviour model which includes musical creativity is developed through the synthesis of two already existing approaches, that of Wilson for information seeking behaviour and that of Webster for creative thinking in music. The present conceptual study presents a three stage pattern or process for modelling information seeking for musical creativity: the process initiates with the intention-motivation for creativity, then proceeds to information seeking behaviour and then concludes with the musical creativity outcomes. This is the first study that seeks to understand the relationships between creativity and information seeking behaviour.

Information seeking for musical creativity: A systematic literature review

This paper aims to present a systematic literature review of research in music information seeking and its application to musical creativity and creative activities and in particular composition, performance and improvisation, and listening and analysis. A seed set of 901 articles published between 1973 and 2015 was evaluated and in total 65 studies were considered for further analyses. Data extraction and synthesis was performed through content analysis using the PRISMA method. Three thematic categories were identified in regard to music information needs: (a) those related to scholarly activities, (b) musically motivated, as well as (c) those which are related to socializing and communication. In addition, 3 categories of music information sources were connected to musical creativity: (i) those that are related to Internet and media technologies, (ii) those that are related to music libraries, organizations, and music stores, and (iii) those that are related to the subjects' social settings. The paper provides a systematic review, with the aim of showcasing the effect of modern information retrieval techniques in a creative and intensive area of information‐dependent activity such as music making and consumption.

Music, musicians and information seeking behaviour

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine information seeking behaviour targeted to music information seeking by amateur musicians, accompanied with empirical evidence from a survey on a community concert band. While several studies in the literature have examined information seeking in the context of hedonic motives (e.g. entertainment oriented), music information can also be used for utilitarian purposes by providing amateur musicians the necessary tools to improve their skill and become better in their practice. Design/methodology/approach – A review of the literature on music information seeking and an empirical study on members of an amateur concert band are presented. The theoretical construct of the survey is informed by Wilsons’ macro model of information seeking behaviour. This is employed in order to understand information motives and needs, as well as obstacles in information seeking of musicians. Findings – Musicians seek information not only for entertainment but for educational purposes as well as for the acquisition of certain music works. The use of the internet for information seeking as well as the gradual adoption of online social networks has provided access to new musical resources within the digital music networks. Originality/value – A person-centred approach for information seeking behaviour is studied and adapted for musicians. The survey provides new information behaviour results for designers of music information spaces which in turn are creating a new model of the relationship between music and society.

Music, Musicians, and Information Seeking Behavior: A Case Study on a Community Concert Band

While several studies in the literature have addressed music information seeking behavior from the perspective of hedonic motives, (e.g. entertainment oriented), music information can also be used for utilitarian purposes, by providing amateur musicians the necessary tools to improve their skill and become better in their practice. This paper provides a user study of information seeking behavior targeted at amateur musicians, based on an empirical survey conducted on participants recruited from a community concert band (N=147). The paper builds a framework for music information seeking based on Wilsons’ macro model of information behavior in order to understand information motives and needs, perceived importance of information needs when seeking information, as well as obstacles and barriers in information seeking. Results highlight the utilitarian aspect of music information seeking and contribute empirical evidence in the literature, both from the perspective of designing music information spaces, as well as incorporating them in the music education process.

Younger Adults Derive Pleasure and Utilitarian Benefits from Browsing for Music Information Seeking in Physical and Digital Spaces

Objective – This study’s objective was to identify the utilitarian and hedonic features of satisfying music information seeking experiences from the perspective of younger adults when using physical and digital music information retrieval (MIR) systems in their daily lives. 
 
 Design – In-depth, semi-structured interviews.
 
 Setting – Large public library in Montreal, Canada.
 
 Subjects – 15 French-speaking younger adults, 10 males and 5 females (aged 18 to 29 years, mean age of 24 years).
 
 Methods – A pre-test was completed to test the interview guide. The guide was divided into five sections asking the participants questions about their music tastes, how music fit into their daily lives, how they discovered music, what music information sources were used and how they were used, what made their experiences satisfying, and their biographical information. Participants were recruited between April 1, 2006 and August 8, 2007 following maximum variation sampling for the main study. Recruitment stopped when data saturation was reached and no new themes arose during analysis. Interviews were recorded and the transcripts were analyzed via constant comparative method (CCM) to determine themes and patterns. 
 
 Main Results – The researchers found that both utilitarian and hedonic factors contributed to satisfaction with music information seeking experiences for the young adults. Utilitarian factors were divided between two main categories: finding music and finding information about music. Finding information about music could be further divided into three sub-categories: increasing cultural knowledge and social acceptance through increased knowledge about music, enriching the listening experience by finding information about the artist and the music, and gathering information to help with future music purchases including information that would help the participants recommend music to others. Hedonic outcomes that contributed to satisfying information seeking experiences included deriving pleasure and feeling engaged while searching or browsing for music. Especially satisfying experiences were those where the participants felt highly engaged in the process and found new, independent, non-mainstream music. Not finding new music did not automatically lead to an unsatisfying experience for the participants; however, technology malfunctions in digital MIR systems and unpleasant environments such as those with unfriendly staff in physical music spaces (libraries and stores), led to unsatisfying experiences for the participants. 
 
 Conclusions – As the results show that the hedonic aspects of music information seeking are very important, designers of MIR systems must take into account the hedonic as well as utilitarian outcomes when creating user interfaces. MIR systems should be designed with browsing as well as searching capabilities so searchers can make serendipitous discoveries of new music and information about music. In other words, MIR systems need to be engaging to ensure satisfying interactions for searchers.

Music Information Seeking Behaviour Poses Unique Challenges for the Design of Information Retrieval Systems

Music Information Seeking Behaviour Poses Unique Challenges for the Design of Information Retrieval Systems