This study explores complexity, musical dimensions, and the use of music for cognitive, emotional, or background purposes. In the pilot study, participants rated the complexity of 70 song excerpts representing the Reflective and Complex, Upbeat and Conventional, Intense and Rebellious, and Energetic and Rhythmic dimensions. In the main study, participants listened to 30 songs that were rated as high, moderate, or low complexity in the pilot study. They rated their use of each song on a modified version of the Uses of Music Inventory. The results indicated that highly complex music is used more for cognitive purposes and low complexity music is used more for emotional purposes. Ultimately, these findings confirmed that use of music is influenced by complexity.Much research on music has examined music preferences and music uses in relation to personality and situational factors. For example, Rentfrow and Gosling (2003) identified a factor structure to categorize musical preferences and associated this structure with personality characteristics. Other researchers have examined the qualities of music (e.g., complexity) and music uses (Chamorro-Although past research has studied the connection between music qualities (e.g., complexity) and music preferences, there is a paucity of research examining how the qualities of the music affect the manner in which the music is used (

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