Exploring geographic and cultural differences in preferences for valence and arousal in music using regional music charts

Music can evoke and enable emotional expression. Yet few studies have investigated which aspects of music preference are universal, and which aspects vary geographically and culturally. To investigate, we used a large, ecological dataset to assess the valence and arousal of songs in music charts from 64 countries. Furthermore, we explored how differences between music charts were predicted by income inequality, GDP, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, and tightness-looseness. First, we used a top-down approach whereby we grouped countries into five global regions—Western and North-West Europe, Eastern and Southern Europe, Asia, Central and South America, and North Africa and The Middle East. Second, we used a bottom-up approach where we grouped countries through the unsupervised learning algorithm, k-means clustering. Using both approaches, we found that, broadly, Central and South American countries preferred more positive and arousing music than countries from other global regions. However, some countries (e.g., Japan, Chile, Switzerland, and Spain) showed music preferences that did not align with other countries in their geographic region. Furthermore, we found that uncertainty avoidance, cultural tightness, and income inequality were the strongest predictors for regional differences in music preferences. This study provides robust evidence for both the universality and diversity of preferences for valence and arousal in music across geographic and cultural groups.