Weather Waves: How the weather could influence your music taste
Rain or shine, the weather might be picking your next song without you even realizing it.
Have you ever found yourself playing slow, soulful music while the weather is gloomy? Or caught yourself looking for upbeat songs as soon as the sun comes out after days of grey?
You are not imagining it. As it turns out, the weather may be having a subtle but significant impact on your tastes in music.
While most of us ignore why we lean toward certain music, scientists and streaming services have begun studying patterns. From summer bangers to warm acoustic melodies during winter, there could be more science to your playlist than you think.
The relationship between mood, memory and music
Brandon Paul, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) and director of the Cognitive Hearing Laboratory, says that our music preferences are inextricably linked to how we feel and that weather is only a few among many factors that influence this.
"Some studies suggest a psychological link between the weather and music preferences," said Paul. "Mood regulation is one possible factor. If people want to feel better, they might pick music that reminds them of summer and good memories.
Paul suggests music connected to memory and nostalgia may also play a big role, adding, "Christmas music is likely popular for this reason."
A 2010 study released by the journal Current Psychology supports this. Researchers found that those who read about summer preferred lively, dynamic music, while those who read about winter favoured slower, introspective tunes.
Paul adds that mood regulation could be one explanation but notes that "current research studies are correlational," meaning we don't know whether weather influences our music preferences or if other factors such as culture and commerce have a role.
Boy wearing headphones in a snow storm. (Kobe/Pexels)
Streaming services also feel the shift
Spotify looked into 85 billion streams as part of its global Climatune effort with AccuWeather and found that listeners were more likely to play vibrant, cheery music on sunny days and more acoustic or calm tunes when it rained.
Spotify also collaborated with Cornell University researchers to look at worldwide music trends. The study, published in Nature Human Behavior, examined 765 million streams from more than 50 countries.
It found that musical energy grows with longer daylight and tends to fall during darker winter months—especially in northern countries like Canada.
Another study published in Royal Society Open Science studied 70 years of UK chart-topping songs and discovered that warmer, brighter weather was linked with higher-energy, more optimistic music.
From playlists to seasons
If you hop on Spotify or Apple Music, you'll notice it most likely consists of playlists titled "Rainy Day," "Winter Chill," "Feel Good Spring," and yep, even "Hot Girl Summer."
During the winter, listeners tend to lean toward ballads, nostalgic favourites and holiday classics. In contrast, pop, hip-hop and dance tracks rise in popularity during the summer months.
In 2022, Spotify named Harry Styles’ As It Was the most-streamed summer song in Canada. Meanwhile, Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You continues to dominate the holiday charts year after year.
Holiday playlist creation begins shortly after Thanksgiving on Spotify, with global data showing a 1,400% increase at the beginning of November as listeners get into the holiday spirit.
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Are we aware of this? Probably—and we've been leaning into it for generations.
"People are very consciously aware of the connection between their music and the seasons," said Paul. "It's been happening for centuries. Just look at Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons' or how many modern playlists are created around weather themes."
He also adds that music engineers are developing apps that generate playlists based on the weather—something he says is “good evidence that weather can overtly influence music listening and music creation."
Forecast, a weather-based playlist generator built by American artist Tycho and developer Lee Martin, uses real-time local meteorological data to construct Spotify and Apple Music playlists.
So, the next time you're making a playlist or putting it on shuffle, look at the sky. The weather may have already created the soundtrack for your day.