Research

In line with the project aims, the research design developed by the Center for Applied Music (CAM) is grounded in an empirical scientific process that examines the effects of different sounds and music on museum audiences.

EUROMUSE is a Creative Europe Cooperation Project

Research Overview

This research study aims to provide insights into the effects of applied music on visitors’ experience by comparing museum conditions without music and with music. In addition, the study seeks to gain a deeper understanding of the experiences of key stakeholders involved in the process, including Community Museum Board (CMB) members, composers, and curators.

Designed as an exploratory, multidisciplinary study, the research integrates knowledge from psychology, ethnomusicology, sociology, policy studies, and other socio-humanistic disciplines. In this way, it contributes to the complex field of museum audience development.

As the project is implemented in museums across 3 countries, the study also aims to provide insights into cultural diversity in the experience of art exhibitions, as well as to identify cultural similarities and cross-cultural effects of applied music on visitors’ experience.

The research targeted curators, composers, and museum visitors, including people with disabilities, the visually impaired, youth, and seniors.

The research team from CAM and Pegaso University conducted research activities in partner museums.

Method

Given the complexity of the analytical aims – namely, measuring the emotional and cognitive effects of introducing a musical layer into a museum exhibition while monitoring visitors’ behaviour and experience – a comprehensive research design was developed. It included the following quantitative and qualitative components:

1. Visitor surveys conducted in each museum to capture aesthetic and emotional experiences, as well as attitudes toward museum visits, in line with the CAM pilot study conducted at the Museum of Science and Technology in Belgrade. Both silent and music conditions were applied, with a total of 1.500 visitors in 3 museums.

2. Cognitive testing, including Stroop and Visual Search tests (silent and music conditions), assessing the ability to integrate, use, and organize information from perceptual space. These tests measured processing speed, detection ability, and interactions between working memory and visuomotor processes, building on previous findings regarding the effects of music on cognitive performance, including results from the Belgrade pilot study.

3. Monitoring museum attendance, including both on-site visits and online engagement (social networks and websites), on a monthly basis, with comparisons to data from the previous year.

4. Measurement of visit duration, focusing on the amount of time visitors spent in the museum.

5. Semi-structured individual interviews conducted with composers and museum curators.

6. Group interviews conducted with members of the Community Museum Board (CMB), as well as with groups of visually impaired participants in each museum.

7. Written diary notes, where selected CMB members were invited to write short reflective texts documenting their experiences in the museums from the initial to the final phase of the project.

Ethical Note

All participants provided informed consent and were fully informed about the goals of the study. They gave permission for their anonymized data to be analysed at the group level for research purposes. Participation was entirely voluntary, and participants were informed of their right to withdraw from the study at any time.