When we take heed to a symphony, a jazz efficiency, or a pop track, we naturally are likely to assume that our ears are the first judges of high quality. For many individuals, music is primarily an auditory {experience}, and so they instinctively imagine that the true essence of a musical efficiency lies in elements comparable to its acoustic constancy, correct intonation, or rhythmic precision.
Research has, nevertheless, revealed an intriguing phenomenon that challenges this assumption. Dubbed because the “sight-over-sound impact,” this phenomenon means that visible points of a performer—from their stage presence to refined physique language cues—can unconsciously sway our judgment, generally much more powerfully than the music itself.
Despite its fascinating implications, the replicability of the sight-over-sound impact has remained debatable throughout musical kinds and efficiency settings. Previous analysis has struggled with precisely assessing visible influences, experiencing challenges with inconsistent filming angles, musical items, and definitions of musical {experience} amongst evaluators. Consequently, the understanding of the sight-over-sound impact and its extent stays unclear.
Against this backdrop, a analysis staff led by Associate Professor Shinya Fujii, Director of the Neurosciences and Music Laboratory at Keio University and the Research Center for Music Science at Keio University Global Research Institute, Japan, carried out a complete study to analyze the replicability of this impact. The study was co-authored by Tomohiro Samma from the Graduate School of Media and Governance at Keio University and published online within the PLOS One journal on April 29, 2025. The staff meticulously investigated the replicability of the sight-over-sound impact, with a particular deal with the function of the evaluators’ particular musical background.
To handle the restrictions of prior analysis, the researchers designed an experiment utilizing recordings from Japanese highschool brass band competitions. This allowed for important {control} over the experimental stimuli. All chosen bands had obtained gold awards, minimizing variations in talent stage.
Most importantly, all performances inside a comparability set featured the identical musical piece filmed with constant digital camera angles. 301 adults have been included within the study, who have been categorized into three teams: brass band musicians (BMs) with direct {experience} within the style, non-brass band musicians (NBMs) with common musical {experience} however no brass band background, and non-musicians (NMs) with no formal musical coaching. These teams evaluated brass band performances below audio-only, visual-only, or audio-visual circumstances, choosing the band they believed would obtain the very best competitors outcomes.
The study’s outcomes revealed a markedly nuanced image of the sight-over-sound impact. When analyzing the general participant pattern, the researchers discovered no important proof of the impact, suggesting {that a} cautious {control} over visible components and musical items might certainly scale back visible dominance.
However, detailed subgroup analyses urged a dependency on the evaluator’s musical {experience}. Specifically, the sight-over-sound impact was noticed in NBMs, who confirmed considerably increased accuracy in figuring out winners from visual-only data.
In distinction, the impact was absent in BMs, who demonstrated superior accuracy within the audio-only {condition}, indicating their potential to make exact judgments based mostly solely on sound. The NM group didn’t exhibit the sight-over-sound impact both.
These findings carry important implications for our understanding of multisensory integration and the sensible points of music and music competitions. Firstly, the absence of the sight-over-sound impact within the general pattern highlights the significance of methodological rigor in future research. More importantly, various outcomes throughout the three teams underscore that specialised musical coaching can profoundly form how people course of and prioritize sensory data.
“Our study discovered that the sight-over-sound impact was noticed solely in NBMs, indicating its dependence on the evaluator’s particular musical {experience}, whereas BMs’ auditory coaching doubtlessly mitigating visible affect,” explains Samma.
Additionally, the outcomes are additionally related in social psychology and cognitive science typically, since they counsel that experience in a given area can alter one’s weighting of sensory inputs. For occasion, visible dominance noticed within the NBM group means that whereas they possess musical expertise, they could nonetheless depend on visible cues for analysis in the event that they lack {experience} in a given style.
“By shedding mild on the underexplored side of how evaluators’ musical {experience} influences the analysis course of in multisensory integration, this work has important implications for numerous real-world points, comparable to music schooling, efficiency, and competitors judging,” concludes Dr. Fujii.
Further work on this intriguing subject will hopefully assist us enhance music schooling and make competitions fairer.
More data:
Tomohiro Samma et al, Sight-over-sound impact will depend on interplay between evaluators’ musical {experience} and auditory-visual integration: An examination utilizing Japanese brass band competitors recordings, PLOS One (2025). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0321442
Citation:
Who actually hears the very best? Visuals sway some musicians greater than others ( 16)
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