This study employs a uses and gratifications approach to understand Indian Gen Z listeners’ sustained interest and motivations in consuming low-fidelity (lo-fi) music during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Lo-fi (or low fidelity) music is recognizable through its singular imperfections, slow tempo, layered ambient background noise, and heavy reverb; it encompasses a visual art style and aesthetic. This inductive qualitative study interviews 23 Gen Z lo-fi music listeners and two lo-fi music producers to uncover themes including negative mood management, reminiscence, accessibility, social interaction, and Bollywoodness. This research contributes to how Gen Z listeners access a wide range of music, have exclusive reasons for their choices, and have nuanced reasons for why they experience frustrations towards the lo-fi music genre. The findings also have implications for potential lo-fi producers in understanding why listeners are drawn towards lo-fi music, how they consume and interact with it, and how it can evolve for newer audiences.
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Research Article|
March 19 2025
A Uses and Gratifications Approach to Examining Lo-Fi Music Genre Popularity among Indian Gen Z during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Priya Kataria
Priya Kataria
K. J. Somaiya Institute of Management
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Music Perception 1–18.
Article history
Received:
February 17 2023
Accepted:
August 24 2024
Citation
Andy Silveira, Karman Khanna, Priya Kataria; A Uses and Gratifications Approach to Examining Lo-Fi Music Genre Popularity among Indian Gen Z during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Music Perception 2025; doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/mp.2025.2329148
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