Mobile listening situations in everyday life: The use of MP3 players while travelling

Abstract

Due to technological developments including MP3 format and portable music players, people are now easily able to listen to music to accompany almost every everyday life situation, and music listening is particularly common while travelling (North, Hargreaves and Hargreaves, 2004). The current research explores several related aspects of listening to music while travelling in order to uncover more about why people choose to listen to music in relatively short and purposeful travelling situations. It explores mobile listeners people who choose to listen to music while travelling. A Mobile Flyer Survey was conducted with 428 mobile listeners on and around a university campus (mean age 20.5 years) at the point of music listening, asking about the music they had chosen and their listening experience. Follow-up interviews were conducted with eight mobile listeners to explore their views on music and travelling in more depth. Results show that listeners create an "auditory bubble" in public places while travelling, although paradoxically this also enhances their awareness of their surroundings and is partly permeable. Music while travelling primarily fulfils the functions of enjoyment, passing time and enhancing emotional states. Mobile listeners also consciously choose their music depending on their current goals and desires, which may link to their journey's destination. The findings thus shed light on how technological gadgets like MP3 players are used to control listeners' needs and desires outside the home.