Playing music to animals: an interdisciplinary approach to improving our understanding of animals' responses to music

Humans have profoundly changed the global soundscape. Studying how nonhuman animals respond to music can contribute to a better understanding of the effect of sound on animals. Animals are frequently exposed to human music, whether intentionally (for example, in laboratory settings), or unintentionally (for example, when animals live in close proximity to humans). Although several papers examine animals' responses to music, these typically do so from a purely animal behavioural perspective, sometimes missing relevant details about salient features of the music being played. An interdisciplinary approach that places musical and scientific knowledge on equal footing can improve our understanding of how animals respond to music and music-like sounds, in new and exciting ways. Here, we show with a systematic review that crucial factors (intrinsic music properties, listener properties, playback context and producer properties and contexts; ILPP) are not being adequately considered or reported in recently published scientific articles on the effects of music on animals, which hinders scientific reproducibility within this area of study. These problems are caused by improper referencing of music sources, misunderstanding of music and unexamined assumptions about individual variation and preferences between individuals of the same or different species. We then suggest that Berlyne’s psychobiological theory might provide a useful framework for studying how animals respond to human-generated sounds. • Music can be useful for testing what parameters affect animal responses to sound. • Factors like listener properties and playback context influence responses to music. • Berlyne’s theory offers a means to test the interaction of these factors in animals. • Animal responses to music stimulate ethical discussions and considerations. • An interdisciplinary approach is needed to understand how animals respond to music.