The social nature of music can influence human emotions. Music allows listeners to express their emotions, whether positive or negative at intrapersonal and interpersonal levels. Pop music in particular has been known as a useful tool to facilitate students’ learning and help them become creative, relieve their boredom, and help them get through difficult times. However, what is less known to date is how Pop music influences the emotions of youth and why they rely on the music to communicate their feelings. Available studies have mostly used surveys to collect data among pre-school and middle school children. Samples have also been mostly from Western countries. Utilising a qualitative research method, we recruited 12 undergraduate students from public and private university in Selangor, Malaysia. The participants were selected using the purposive sampling method and data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted both online and face-to-face. Thematic analysis revealed that students experience joy, relaxation, happiness, and sadness when they listen to their favourite Pop songs. Pop music enables youth to release powerful emotional responses such as thrills and chills. The relatable and meaningful lyrics often mirror their inner thoughts and feelings and helps them express and explore their emotions when communicating with other people.
Ahmad, N. (2015). Impact of Music on Mood: Empirical Investigation. Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, 5(21), 98-101.
Akhmadullina, R. M., Abdrafikova, A. R., & Vanyukhina, N. V. (2016). The use of music as a way of formation of communicative skills of students in teaching English language. International Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 11(6), 1295–1302.
Arnett, J. (1991). Adolescents and heavy metal music: From the mouths of metalheads. Youth & Society, 23(1), 76-98.
Batt-Rawden, K., & Denora, T. (2005). Music and informal learning in everyday life. Music Education Research, 7(3), 289–304.
Bennet, A. (2001). Cultures of Popular Music. Berkshire: Open University Press.
Blaise, A. A., & Diekstra, R. (2021). Influence of Music and Musical Education on Youth Development in France. African Journal of Emerging Issues, 3(9), 9–18.
Boer, D., & Fischer, R. (2012). Towards a holistic model of functions of music listening across cultures: A culturally decentred qualitative approach. Psychology of Music, 40(2), 179–200).
Bruner Ii, G. C. (1990). Music, mood, and marketing. Journal of Maketing, 54, 94–104.
Canli, Z., & Canli, B. (2013). Keep calm and say sorry!: The use of apologies by EFL teachers in Turkish and English. Educational Process: International Journal, 2(1–2), 36–46.
Chirinos-espin, C. (2021). Entertainment-Education Behind the Scenes. Entertainment-Education Behind the Scenes, 121–135.
Corrigall, K. A., & Schellenberg, E. G. (2013). Chapter 15 Music?: The language of emotion. In C. Mohiyeddinin, M. Eysenck & S. Bauer, Handbook of Psychology of Emotions (299-323). Nova Science Publisher.
Cowen, A. S., & Fang, X., Sauter, D. & Keltner, D. (2020). What music makes us feel: At least 13 dimensions organize subjective experiences associated with music across different cultures. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 117(4), 1924–1934.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997). Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life. New York: Basic Books.
De Lacy Kidwell, M. (2014). Music therapy and spirituality: How can I keep from singing? Music Therapy Perspectives, 32(2), 129–135.
Dingle, G., Sharman, L., & Larwood, J. (2019). Young people’s uses of music for emotional immersion. Handbook of Music, Adolescents, and Wellbeing, 25–38.
Evans, P., & Schubert, E. (2008). Relationships between expressed and felt emotions in music. Musicae Scientiae, 12(1), 75–99.
Ganser, J., & Huda, F. (2010). Music ’ s Effect on Mood and Helping Behavior. UW-L Journal of Undergraduate Research, XII, 1–5.
Gorkaltseva, E. N., & Gozhin, A. G. (2017). The impact of pop music on the British youth.
Helwig, H. (2018). Language and Identity: How Music Affects Language and Communication Communication . Emerging Writers, 1(2).
https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/emergingwriters/vol1/iss2018/2
Hunter, P. G., Canada, S. D., & Schellenberg, E. G. (2010). Chapter 5: Music and Emotion. In M. R. Jones, R. R. Fay & A. N. Popper. Music Perception.
Juslin, P. N., & Laukka, P. (2003). Communication of Emotions in Vocal Expression and Music Performance: Different Channels, Same Code? Psychological Bulletin, 129(5), 770–814.
Juslin, P. N., & Laukka, P. (2004). Expression, Perception, and Induction of Musical Emotions: A Review and a Questionnaire Study of Everyday Listening. Journal of New Music Research, 33(3), 217–238.
Jusllin, P., & Timmers, R. (2010). Chapter 17 Expression and Communication of Emotion in Music Performance. Oxford University Press.
Kawakami, A., Furukawa, K., & Okanoya, K. (2014). Music evokes vicarious emotions in listeners. Frontiers in Psychology, 5.
Khan, M., & Ajmal, A. (2017). Effect of Classical and Pop Music on Mood and Performance. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 7(12), 905–911.
Kokkidou, M., & Tsakaridou, E. (2009). “Why do young people listen to music?: to feel upset , upgraded or uplifted??”: a field study. Proceedings of the 6th International Conference of G.S.M.E. “Music: Educates, Trains, Heals,” 116–125.
Loutzaki, I., & Poulakis, N. (2019). Greece: History, Culture, and Geography of Music. In J. Sturman. The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Music and Culture. Thousand Oaks: SAGE.
Maratos, A., Crawford, M. J., & Procter, S. (2011). Music therapy for depression: It seems to work, but how? British Journal of Psychiatry, 199(2), 92–93.
Maynes-Blanco, D. T., & Nartea, M. A. (2020). Music and Academic Performance: Impact of Listening to Music of Filipino Millennials. International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation, 24(8), 3223-3231.
McFerran, K. S., & Saarikallio, S. (2014). Depending on music to feel better: Being conscious of responsibility when appropriating the power of music. Arts in Psychotherapy, 41(1), 89–97.
Menninghaus, W., Wagner, V., Hanich, J., Wassiliwizky, E., Kuehnast, M., & Jacobsen, T. (2015). Towards a Psychological Construct of Being Moved. PLoS ONE, 33–35.
Miell, D., MacDonald, R., & Hargreaves, D. J. (2005). Musical Communication. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Miranda, D. (2013). The role of music in adolescent development?: much more than the same old song. International Journal of Adolescence, 18(1).
Musacchia, G., & Khalil, A. (2020). Music and Learning: Does Music Make You Smarter? Frontiers for Young Minds.
Negut, A., & Sârbescu, P. (2014). Problem music or problem stereotypes? The dynamics of stereotype activation in rock and hip-hop music. Musicae Scientiae, 18(1), 3–16.
Nikolsky, A. (2016). How Emotion Can Be the Meaning of a Music Work. January.
North, A. ., Hargreaves, D. ., & O’Neill, S. (2000). The importance of music to adolescents. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 70, 255–272.
Nusbaum, E. C., Silvia, P. J., Beaty, R. E., Bürgin, C. J., Hodges, D. A., & Kwapil, T. R. (2014). Listening Between the Notes?: Aesthetic Chills in Everyday Music Listening. 8(1), 104–109.
Pannese, A., Rappaz, M. A., & Grandjean, D. (2016). Metaphor and music emotion: Ancient views and future directions. Consciousness and Cognition, 44, 61–71.
Papinczak, Z. E., Dingle, G. A., Stoyanov, S. R., Hides, L., & Zelenko, O. (2015). Young people’s uses of music for well-being. Journal of Youth Studies, 18(9), 1119–1134.
Pelowski, M. (2015). Tears and transformation?: feeling like crying as an indicator of insightful or “ aesthetic ” experience with art. Frontiers in Psychology, 6(July), 1–23.
Rathert, S. (2012). Functions of Teacher and Student Code-Switching in an EFL Classroom and Pedagogical Focus: Observations and Implications. Educational Process: International Journal, 1(1–2), 7–18.
Rentfrow, P. J., & Gosling, S. D. (2003). The Do Re Mi’s of Everyday Life: The Structure and Personality Correlates of Music Preferences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(6), 1236–1256.
Robillard, A. (2012). Music videos and sexual risk in african american adolescent girls: Gender, power and the need for media literacy. American Journal of Health Education, 43(2), 93–103.
Roe, K. (1985). Swedish youth and music: Listening patterns and motivations. Communication Research, 12(3), 353–362.
Saarikallio, S., & Erkkila, J. (2007). The role of music in adolescents’ mood regulation. Psychology of Music, 35(1), 88–109.
Scherer, K. R., & Zentner, M. R. (2001). Emotional effects of music: Production rules. Music and Emotion: Theory and Research, 361–392.
Schubert, E. (2004). Modeling Perceived Emotion With Continuous Musical Features. Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 21(4), 561–585.
Sever, S. (2016). Rap Music on Education: A Preliminary Study. Journal of Education and Future, 9, 139–153.
Silvia, P. J., & Nusbaum, E. C. (2011). On Personality and Piloerection?: Individual Differences in Aesthetic Chills and Other Unusual Aesthetic Experiences. American Journal of Psychology, 5(3), 208–214.
Simmons-Stern, N. R., Budson, A. E., & Ally, B. A. (2010). Music as a Memory Enchancer in Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease. Neuropsyhologia, 48(10).
Sloboda, J. A., & O’Neill, S. A. (2019). Emotions in everyday listening to music. Music and Emotion Theory and Research, 9–25.
Stone, A. (2016). The value of popular music: An approach from post-kantian Aesthetics. In The Value of Popular Music: An Approach from Post-Kantian Aesthetics (Issue December 2016).
Storr, A. (2015). Music and the Mind. Free Press / Maxwell Macmillan.
Susino, M., & Schubert, E. (2010). Musical emotions in the absence of music: A cross cultural investigation of emotion communication in music by extra-musical cues. PLoS ONE, 15(11), e0241196.
Taruffi, L., & Koelsch, S. (2014). The paradox of music-evoked sadness: An online survey. PLoS ONE, 9(10), 1–17.
Gurgen, T. E. (2016). Social and Emotional Function of Musical Listening: Reasons for Listening to Music. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, 16(66), 1–30.
Ticker, C. (2017). Music and the Mind: Music’s Healing Powers. Musical Offerings, 8(1), 1–12.
Trimble, M., & Hesdorffer, D. (2017). Bjpi-14-28. Bjpsych International, 14(2), 28–31.
Umuzdas, S. (2015). An analysis of the academic achievement of the students who listen to music while studying. Educational Research and Reviews, 10(6), 728–732.
Urberg, K. A., Degirmencioglu, S. M., Tolson, J. M., & Halliday-Scher, K. (2000). Adolescent social crowds: Measurement and Relationship to Friendships. Journal of Adolescent Research, 15(4), 427–445.
Vuoskoski, J. K., Thompson, W. F., Mcilwain, D., & Eerola, T. (2012). Who Enjoys Listening to Sad Music and Why? Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 13(3), 293–293.
Wells, A., & Hakanen, E. A. (1991). The emotional use of popular music by adolescents. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 68(3), 445–454.
Zatorrea, R. J., & Salimpoor, V. N. (2013). From perception to pleasure: Music and its neural substrates. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 110(SUPPL2), 10430–10437.
In-Text Citation: (Zorkeply@Zulkifli & Mahamad, 2022)
To Cite this Article: Zorkeply@Zulkifli, N. S., & Mahamad, T. E. T. (2022). Pop Music and its Role as a Communicative Medium to Express Emotions among Youth. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 12(11), 1147– 1161.
Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s)
Published by Knowledge Words Publications (www.kwpublications.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode