Analysis of the Effect of Music on Audience Behavior at a Concert

Abstract

In recent years, collective human behavior has been investigated by using small wireless sensors in several fields including medical and educational settings, where individuals' body movements and their proximity are observed and analyzed. These data have been mainly collected in several educational and medical settings, and few data observed in other situations are thus far available. We here investigate the collective human behavior of audience members during a live music concert by observing their body movements. We examine how different pieces of music to which audience members listen affect their body movements, using the time series data of the magnitude of body movements and the similarities in the body movements of the audience members. The results suggest that fast-tempo music can lead to an increase in the magnitude of body movements of audience members. Moreover, slow-tempo music might cause an increase in similarity between the body movements of the audience members.