The Mere-Exposure Effect in Music - Fact or Fiction? by shawkr13

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· @shawkr13 ·
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The Mere-Exposure Effect in Music - Fact or Fiction?
<center>![The Mere-Exposure Effect in Music Cover.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmPTzio9UPV4TS3mTa75KD25PxRJpCYztSsujL5zjAkTE2/The%20Mere-Exposure%20Effect%20in%20Music%20Cover.jpg)</center>

Hi steemit friends,

Last Friday was a very exciting day. I had just left school, it was the start of the weekend, and I was about to listen to the newest Travis Scott album "ASTROWORLD" for the very first time! For those of you who do not know, Travis Scott is a popular American hip-hop artist. So, I hopped into my car, grabbed my auxillary cord, plugged it in to my trusty Ipod Classic, and clicked play. After listening to the first few songs, my mood had changed significantly. By the end of my car ride home, I had finished listening to the album and I was no longer happy and excited; instead I found myself feeling very disappointed.

This is the "ASTROWORLD" album cover, in case you are interested:
<center>![Astroworld_by_Travis_Scott.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmazEbxWxCXDxrLCHdMzAZCPZFWj5L8e9nyisZ9qk9F2Ln/Astroworld_by_Travis_Scott.jpg)
[source](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0b/Astroworld_by_Travis_Scott.jpg)</center>

I hadn't enjoyed the music at all. I couldn't understand what all of the hype and excitement had been about regarding this project. So many critics had given this album high praise, rating it very highly among Travis Scott's other works. A handful of my other friends had also listened to it before me and were ecstatic about it - they recommended it to me with lots of enthusiasm!

But no - after that first listen through the album, I found myself thinking that this album had been a complete flop. Confused, I decided to continue searching for more reviews to see if perhaps there were some people who disliked this project, like I was. But I didn't find much - they were nearly all positive.

I then thought to myself, "I'll give it another listen, hopefully then I might like it better". And sure enough, after my second and third listen I found myself warming up to the music a great deal - I was actually starting to enjoy it! I couldn't believe how much my opinion was changing on the album since my very first listen! As of today, after a few more listens, I now agree that this project is right up there with Travis Scott's bests!

Based on this experience that I had, I thought to myself that perhaps there is a reason for this. Perhaps music that is less familar to us is generally perceived as being worse than music that we are very familar with. So with additional listens through an album, we start to become more familar with the music and begin to enjoy it much more! Curious about if this was a common phenomenon that others experience, I took to the internet.

Pretty quickly, had found my answer. It turns out that there is a phenomenon called the **"mere-exposure effect"**. Although not directly related to music, it essentially describes situations in which people develop preferences to things over time because they are familar. This applies perfectly to the scenario that I had experienced while listening to "ASTROWORLD", and it is admittedly something that I have experienced previously with some of my other favorite albums. 

A Reddit user by the name of [u/indielife_](https://www.reddit.com/user/indielife_) also shared a very similar sentiment, stating that "The first listen, especially when we talk about an album, it's something I do because I have to, but really rarely do I enjoy what I'm listening to. I start getting the grasp of it at listen 3-4".

I had also discovered that faster paced songs, like those that we often hear playing on hit radio stations, are generally much easier for people to become familiar with due to their often simplistic and catchy rythyms. Slower and more moody songs, such as those from this Travis Scott album, require a few additional listens because there is more complexity to them and they convey moods and emotions that cannot be understood without comprehending the context in which the songs are arranged and presented.

So there you have it! It's a relief knowing that I am not alone in this feeling! I suppose this is also quite a good lesson about why we should never "judge a book by it's cover" - there is always something to be appreciated with music but sometimes it just takes a little bit more listening to get there!

What do you think? Have you ever experienced the **"mere-exposure effect"** while listening to music? Do you believe it is real?

<center>![yes or no.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmUVHcoN7nfbJrvW2f9mo9dowUxXN7Tuc483yYDWMcfrqU/yes%20or%20no.jpg)</center>

I would love to hear any and all of your thoughts down below!
___
### <center>Thanks for taking the time to check out my post!
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vote details (39)
@treeplanter ·
Thanks for your donation
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Thanks to @shawkr13 
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@creativecrypto ·
Hello @shawkr13, thank you for sharing this creative work! We just stopped by to say that you've been upvoted by the @creativecrypto magazine. [The Creative Crypto](https://thecreativecrypto.com/) is all about art on the blockchain and learning from creatives like you. Looking forward to crossing paths again soon. Steem on!
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@shawkr13 ·
Wow, thank you for noticing! This was a different style of post than I usually present here on steemit, so I had to put quite a bit more work in than usual. I really appreciate the extra bit of support! 😊
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