Thoughtscapes in music: An examination of thought types occurring during music listening across 17 genres

Music listening can evoke a wide range of thought types, including autobiographical memories, fictional stories, visual imagery, and mind-wandering. Previous studies have typically examined these thought types individually, which precludes investigation of why certain music evokes certain thought types over others. This study investigates the impact of musical genre, familiarity, enjoyment, contrast, and emotional expression on the occurrence of different thought types during music listening across 17 genres targeted towards UK and US listeners. We systematically selected 356 music excerpts and collected data from 701 participants from the United Kingdom and the United States, analysing the frequency of thoughts occurring during these excerpts and various excerpt ratings (e.g., familiarity, emotional expression). We found significant genre-specific effects on thought types, such as Film music primarily evoking media memories and fictional imaginings. Familiarity, contrast, enjoyment, valence, and arousal ratings all significantly influenced certain thought types, suggesting that both compositional features and one’s previous experiences of music affect listeners’ inner mental worlds. This study extends previous research by exploring a broader range of genres and musical features, offering new insights into the mental landscape of thoughts occurring during music listening.