Music Enjoyment in Hearing Loss: Beyond Auditory Perception
September 5th, 2026
Philadelphia, PA , United States
Meredith Kossoff, Kevin Bryan, Veronica Zhang, Emily Gao, Alexander Chern
The review explores how people with hearing loss experience and enjoy music. Drawing on audiology, psychology, and neuroscience, it distinguishes music enjoyment from perceptual ability and identifies emotional, personal, and social factors that shape musical experiences, with implications for hearing care and assessment.
Brain Sciences
DOI: 10.3390/brainsci16090945
Posted byclaudia kania
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Abstract/Description
Music enjoyment is a multidimensional construct with a basis in hearing loss research, music psychology, and neuroscience.
Hearing loss research on music enjoyment has emphasized auditory perception; however, a growing body of music psychology and hearing loss research demonstrates that music enjoyment and perception are related but diverging concepts.
A broader music enjoyment definition is needed to advance future research, outcome measurements, and clinical care.
Development of a patient-reported outcome measure for music enjoyment could enable assessment of music enjoyment across the hearing spectrum.
Music is an important component of quality of life and is increasingly recognized as a meaningful patient-centered outcome in hearing healthcare. Although individuals with hearing loss frequently report reduced enjoyment of music, research in this area has focused on auditory perception, including pitch, timbre, melody, and sound quality. Consequently, music enjoyment is often conceptualized and measured primarily through perceptual performance, despite growing evidence that enjoyment represents a broader subjective experience. Methods: This narrative review examines the current conceptualization of music enjoyment in individuals with hearing loss by integrating literature from audiology, music psychology, affective neuroscience, and patient-reported outcome measurement. Results: We discuss music enjoyment as a multidimensional construct influenced by, but not limited to, auditory perception. Additional determinants include emotional reward, musical engagement, prior musical experience, expectations, identity, listening behaviors, and social context. We further examine evidence demonstrating that music perception and music enjoyment, while related, may diverge substantially across individuals with hearing loss, highlighting the limitations of equating perceptual fidelity with patient experience. Finally, we consider the implications of this conceptual distinction for hearing rehabilitation and music-related outcome measurement. Conclusions: We argue that a broader patient-centered understanding of music enjoyment is necessary to guide future research, inform clinical practice, and support the development of next-generation patient-reported outcome measures capable of capturing the complexity of music experience in individuals with hearing loss.
Hearing loss research on music enjoyment has emphasized auditory perception; however, a growing body of music psychology and hearing loss research demonstrates that music enjoyment and perception are related but diverging concepts.
A broader music enjoyment definition is needed to advance future research, outcome measurements, and clinical care.
Development of a patient-reported outcome measure for music enjoyment could enable assessment of music enjoyment across the hearing spectrum.
Music is an important component of quality of life and is increasingly recognized as a meaningful patient-centered outcome in hearing healthcare. Although individuals with hearing loss frequently report reduced enjoyment of music, research in this area has focused on auditory perception, including pitch, timbre, melody, and sound quality. Consequently, music enjoyment is often conceptualized and measured primarily through perceptual performance, despite growing evidence that enjoyment represents a broader subjective experience. Methods: This narrative review examines the current conceptualization of music enjoyment in individuals with hearing loss by integrating literature from audiology, music psychology, affective neuroscience, and patient-reported outcome measurement. Results: We discuss music enjoyment as a multidimensional construct influenced by, but not limited to, auditory perception. Additional determinants include emotional reward, musical engagement, prior musical experience, expectations, identity, listening behaviors, and social context. We further examine evidence demonstrating that music perception and music enjoyment, while related, may diverge substantially across individuals with hearing loss, highlighting the limitations of equating perceptual fidelity with patient experience. Finally, we consider the implications of this conceptual distinction for hearing rehabilitation and music-related outcome measurement. Conclusions: We argue that a broader patient-centered understanding of music enjoyment is necessary to guide future research, inform clinical practice, and support the development of next-generation patient-reported outcome measures capable of capturing the complexity of music experience in individuals with hearing loss.
