For my research I will be convincing my audience that the idea of good or bad music is made up, whether or not we like it is associated with good or bad music and familiarity. I intend to do this by comparing it to food. As we know, regions vary widely in their food types and therefore we can see that people prefer food they’re familiar with. Similarly, one could conclude that we like music we’re more familiar with. However, there is also a type of our own experience that plays a part in this. For example, if you have bad chicken once and it causes you to get sick you probably won’t enjoy chicken all that much. Similarly, if you work a job that you hate and the store is always playing classical music, you will probably like classical music less due to the bad memories associated with it. In my research I will prove that similarly to how people prefer foods they are familiar with, people prefer music that is familiar to them. Some might say that this claim is false because they once listened to a song they had never heard before and really enjoyed it. However, this could be simply because it is by an artist they are familiar with and therefore are used to the style, or it uses similar chord progressions and musical techniques they are familiar with.

1. Music and Emotions in the Brain: Familiarity Matters | PLOS ONE

This article outlines scientific research to back up the role of familiarity with music appreciation. Quote: “With a listening test and a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment, we wished to clarify the role of familiarity in the brain correlates of music appreciation by controlling, in the same study, for both familiarity and musical preferences.” I intend to use this study as my definitive scientific proof, showing how the brain reacts to music.

2. The role of familiarity in dietary development – ScienceDirect

Quotes: “Trust and liking of a once novel food can be gained through exposure, increasing familiarity towards that food.” – use in counterargument, saying that it’s not impossible for people to come to like music or food that they once didn’t like. However, it requires exposure so that one can be familiar with the music before they come to enjoy it.

3. Some insights into the development of food and brand familiarity: The case of soy sauce in the Netherlands – ScienceDirect

This article investigated familiarity when it came to picking out foods. They tested how people came to like soy sauce and overall salty flavors with increasing frequency of use to see how familiarity played a role in preference. I will use this as an analogy for how people like music that is familiar to them. Quote: “Liking of soy sauce was influenced by the frequency of use and level of food neophobia.”

4. The same old song: The power of familiarity in music choice | Marketing Letters

Quote: “We show that although consumers say they would prefer to listen to unfamiliar music, in actuality familiarity with music positively predicts preference for songs, play lists, and radio stations.” Many people say that they like to explore new music. So I will use this in my counter argument saying that although people say they like to listen to new music they actually prefer music that is familiar to them.

5. Desire to eat and intake of ‘insect’ containing food is increased by a written passage: The potential role of familiarity in the amelioration of novel food disgust – ScienceDirect

Quote: “Interventions that increase the perception of familiarity of a novel food, but not logic-based arguments, may be a key driver of the amelioration of disgust.” Study looks at the role of familiarity when it comes to food preference, I will use this to draw similarities between familiarity when it comes to music preference.