by Asad Ahmad Khan
Spotify defines the four elements of mood. For this article, data of top 100 songs each month is used for these variables using Spotify API of from January 2019 to December 2022.
Musical positiveness conveyed by a track
Measure of intensity and activity
Suitable for dancing
Beats per Minute (BPM)
Mar 2020 - Declared pandemic and lock down began. Music preferences shifted to listen happier songs and kept users' mood uplifted.
Jul 2020- Adopted the new normal and first vaccine was introduced
May 2021- Delta Variant Cases forced users to stay at home, listening to positive music kept them motivated
Dec 2021- Positivity peaked, users were vaccinated. Omicron variant caused uncertainty as vaccines lacked protection against it
Valence and Energy are coorelated indicating every happy song is fast, loud and noisy. Kept the users energetic and enthusiastic
Danceability was high yet outside clubs were closed. Users preferred upbeat songs to keep their moods elevated indoors
Tempo, danceability,energy and valence indicate users kept themselves motivated listening to positive, happier and lively music
Using the popularity measure of Spotify, artists are listed in terms of their popularity ranks assigned.
Painting by Salman Toor
NOTE
This article is a short and simple introduction of the basic principles of mood as defined by Spotify. The data is used from Spotify open API.