Why do we listen to sad music when we feel down?

News: 20th July 2010 by Stef Loukes under

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/luchilu/460465940/

A really interesting article from the New Scientist blog on why we choose to listen to sad music when we feel sad. Obligatory reference to Shostakovich aside, it's still amazing to see that little advancements have really been done in order to see the relationship between science and emotion.

The article includes an experiment conducted at Cheltenham Music Festival's 'Sound Of Melancholia' lecture, to see how a group reacted to three pieces of classical music. It would have been impressive (and maybe more balanced?), however to see how that interpretation also changes when listening to popular music!