What makes a concert unforgettable? Researchers are looking for people to share their experiences of in-person and streamed music concerts
Researchers from the University of Jyväskylä (Centre of Excellence in Music, Mind, Body and Brain) and VTT Technical Research Centre are inviting music fans and musicians to participate in research. By joining online group conversations, you can share what makes live music unforgettable to you. Your insights will help the researchers understand how music is experienced by both listeners and music-makers.
Who can take part in the research?
- Anyone aged 18 or older
- Fluent in English
- Has internet access
What’s involved?
You’ll take part in an online group interview (via Microsoft Teams), where we’ll talk about your concert experiences, your preferences, and what makes in-person and streamed concerts unforgettable.
In each group, one participant will be randomly selected to receive a €30 S-group voucher as a thank you for taking part. We’ll have three interview groups, each with about six participants.
Interested? Please follow the link below:
Link to participate in the survey
About the project
The Research Council of Finland has awarded over €710,000 to the four-year interdisciplinary consortium project Musical Sharing in Copresent Time and Space (MUSICOTAS), conducted by the University of Jyväskylä in collaboration with VTT Technical Research Centre.
The consortium project, led by Assistant Professor Martin Hartmann (JYU) and Dr. Teemu Ahmaniemi (VTT), explores how people experience live and livestreamed music–both individually and in groups–in real-world settings. The goal is to understand how social context affects both performers and audience during different types of music concerts. Specifically, the research will focus on how people move to music, as well as on their heart responses, rhythmic and interpersonal synchronization and emotional states and enjoyment.
“The music industry has seen a worldwide surge in live music consumption, with record-breaking live concert streams and film concerts during and after the pandemic. Live music experiences–whether on site or online–can strongly move people and adjust the musicians’ and audiences’ minds and bodies to the music and to others. However, our current knowledge on this fragmented, and mostly based on studies conducted under artificial laboratory conditions and small sample sizes,” explains Hartmann.
“Measuring the responses from tens of individuals in sub-second synchrony is a technical challenge. Physiological sensors have to be comfortable, and the subjective assessment must be conducted with minimal burden to the participant. Our aim is to find an optimal solution that keeps the music experience as natural as possible. The obtained solution can be applied in research contexts such as sports and wellbeing”, explains Ahmaniemi.
“Clarifying musicians’ and listeners’ behavioral, physiological, and affective responses during naturalistic music making and listening in ecologically valid contexts can deepen our understanding of how music is experienced by both the listeners and music-makers”, comments Hartmann.
According to Ahmaniemi, “this research has potential to yield scientific breakthroughs in music perception, production, and cognition, as well as in human social interaction and coordination, and affective science.”
