On exploring the connection between music classification and evoking emotion

The relationship between music and emotion is very difficult to define. Listening to a musical selection can cause different individuals to respond in different ways. Measuring physiological responses to music covers only one part of how an individual experiences music. Listening to a favorite sports team´s song often evokes feelings of pride and enthusiasm while a rival team´s fan might feel antagonism. This type of induced emotion is obviously learned behavior. For this reason, rather than being a nature vs nurture discourse, research on emotions elicited by music is really a combination of nature and nurture.