What Else Can Music Preferences do? A Commentary on Clark and Giacomantonio

Abstract

This commentary considers the uses to which information about music preferences can be put, considering the findings from Clark and Giacomantonio (2015) and other related studies of music preferences. It focuses on three areas.  Firstly, the ways in which music preferences can be, and have been, studied are critically examined. Secondly, the factors and variables to which music preferences have been linked are investigated, exploring the nature and direction of this relationship. Finally, the specific findings of Clark and Giacomantonio in relation to music and empathy are critically evaluated. Further research is required before firm implications about the direction of influences between music preferences and other variables can be drawn.