University students’ use of music for learning and well-being: A qualitative study and design implications

Abstract

Music has long been recognised to be able to alter people's emotions and behaviours, yet how university students use music for learning and well-being is largely unexplored. With one of the largest music user populations in the world, China has tremendous market potential for digital music. This study explores music use behaviours for learning and well-being among university students in China and how these findings can inform future online music service design. An investigation framework is developed based on theories in multiple related disciplines such as musicology, psychology, and sociology. In-depth interviews were conducted with forty university students in twenty universities, with an interview protocol designed based on the framework. Interview transcriptions were analysed using a thematic content analysis approach. The results reveal how students use music for multiple aspects of life corresponding to learning and major components of well-being, including physical well-being, social relationships, positive emotion, self-esteem, and meaning of life. Based on the findings we discuss emerging themes on the design of online music information systems and services. This study fills the research gap on how music is used by university students for benefiting learning and well-being. The design implications are valuable for online music services to better meet users’ evolving needs. The proposed framework and method can be readily used to study music users in various populations.