Sadness is generally seen as a negative emotion, but we tend to find it pleasurable in an aesthetic context. What is the nature of pleasure that people experience from listening to sad music?

A broken heart. A sad ending to a love affair. That’s something most of us have experienced, or probably will. After all, it’s part of human life; needed, at least one time, to become more fully adult ...

Nick Blackmer is a librarian, fact-checker, and researcher with more than 20 years of experience in consumer-facing health and wellness content. Listening to sad music can make you feel connected and ...

You would think happy people would prefer to listen to happy music. Lyrics that speak to their positive mood, bringing them cheer and joy. Yet, sad music tends to have a longer-lasting appeal for many ...