The COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdowns disrupted social connectivity, prompting individuals to seek alternative sources of socioemotional support. This study investigated whether beat-based music, characterized by the Spotify danceability feature, served as a surrogate for social reward during the first European lockdown (March–May 2020). We integrated large-scale Spotify streaming data with psychological measures of socioemotional support from the COVIDiSTRESS global survey and governmental stringency indices across 11 European countries. Results from a linear-mixed effects model indicate that people listened to music with higher danceability during social distancing after the COVID onset (30 March – 30 May 2020) compared with the same pre-COVID period in the year before. A quasi-Bayesian multilevel mediation analysis further revealed that stricter social distancing policies predicted lower perceived socioemotional support, which in turn was associated with increased listening to more highly danceable music. This effect was specific to certain facets of socioemotional need, namely emotional attachment and reassurance of worth, which delineates the instantaneous rewarding nature of social recognition, often encountered during common activities, such as dinner parties, (band or dance) rehearsals, or (themed) excursions. These findings suggest that individuals may intuitively gravitate toward rhythmically engaging music to compensate for diminished social affirmation and bonding, highlighting beat-based music as a potential non-pharmacological tool for addressing transient socioemotional deficits during social isolation.
Ptasczynski et al. (Wed,) studied this question.