Alternative music playlists on the radio: Flow experience and appraisal during the reception of music radio programs

Abstract

It is of fundamental importance for radio broadcasting companies that their listeners do not turn off the radio or switch to another station. Audiences continue listening if they like the program -especially the music. This positive appraisal can be explained by the concept of flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975), which illustrates how the right balance between the challenge of completing a task and the skill of the individual can lead to a particularly fulfilling mental state. We therefore conducted two 2 x 2 betweensubjects experiments in cooperation with a major German broadcasting company in which we varied the complexity and familiarity of a 1-hour prime time radio program. In Study 1 we examined the effects of Adult Contemporary radio programs on a sample of the appropriate target group (120 participants, 51% female, 30 to 39 years old), while in Study 2, equivalent Contemporary Hit radio programs were evaluated by that genre's younger target group (217 participants, 49% female, 14 to 31 years old). We found that, dependent on the musical skill or listening modes of the recipients, the complexity of the music programs could be associated with higher or lower flow experiences, which in turn had an influence on positive listener appraisal.

Flow in music performance and music-listening: Differences in intensity, predictors, and the relationship between flow and subjective well-being

“…Hence, merely having music playing in the background does not evoke flow, but listening to music as the main activity so that attention can be focused on the music is an important precondition for getting into and staying in flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 2014). The results for MR found here are also in line with Ruth et al (2016) findings. In this study, the authors showed a negative effect of low analytical listening on flow when listening to complex music.…”

“…A high level of concentration and engagement in music-listening is also seen to be an important prerequisite for music-listening to evoke flow, as otherwise one can hardly experience a state of absorption (Csikszentmihalyi, 2009). Ruth, Spangardt, and Schramm (2016) provided empirical evidence for the influence of a concentrated form of music-listening (analytical music-listening) on flow, that is, lower levels of analytical listening reduce flow when listening to complex music. Bernardi, Bellemare-Pepin, and Peretz (2018) investigated the occurrence of flow while either listening and dancing to music or listening to music without moving.…”

Flow research in music contexts: A systematic literature review

“…Four studies used questionnaires adapted from other studies; two of these (Cunha & Carvalho, 2012) adapted Custodero's (1997Custodero's ( , 2005 Flow Indicators in Musical Activities (FIMA) to assess flow experience during music learning activities. Two studies (3.6%; Ruth, Spangardt, & Schramm, 2017;Stupacher, Witte, & Wood, 2017) used the Flow Short Scale (Engeser & Rheinberg, 2008;Rheinberg et al, 2003).…”

Ekosistem Radio Siaran Swasta di Pekanbaru pada Era Penyiaran Digital

“…Selanjutnya, interaksi yang terjadi antara media dan audien tentunya melibatkan akses pada teknologi media, interaksi budaya, teknologi dalam totaliterisme ideologi media sebagai inovasi pada akses media (Gamaleri, 2019). Dalam konteks radio siaran, ideologinya bisa berupa praktik jurnalisme radio atau berupa pilihan playlist lagu siap tayang yang menjadi bentuk ideologi radio tersebut (Hargitai, 2021;Ruth et al, 2017). Artinya, secara keseluruhan ideologi radio menjadi identitas medianya yang menjadi penentu minat dan konteks audiens yang akan dilayani.…”