Enhancing Music Recommender Systems with Multimedia Content: A Context-Aware Approach

MuRec Teaser

Abstract

The evolution of the music industry has introduced multimedia elements—such as video, text, and images—into music consumption. However, current Music Recommender Systems (MRSs) remain predominantly audio-focused, requiring explicit user interaction to access additional media. This study explores the integration of multimedia content into MRSs, considering the role of contextual activities and the Uses and Gratifications (U&Gs) framework in enhancing personalization and engagement. A diary study with 26 participants over one week identified nine key activities, with Household Chores, Workout, and Focusing being the most relevant. These activities revealed novel U&Gs such as 'For Preference', 'For Convenience', 'For Discovery', and 'To Get Distracted'. A subsequent user study compared a Basic Music App (audio-only) with a Modified Music App (multimedia-enhanced). Results showed that participants preferred the Modified Music App across five constructs: novelty, ease of use, usefulness, satisfaction, and intention to use. These findings suggest that multimedia-enhanced recommendations can improve user experience by aligning with activity-specific preferences. The study contributes to research on personalized MRSs and offers insights for developing context-aware, multimedia-driven recommendations.


Citation

Lesota, Veronica Clavijo, Attia Rizwani, Schedl, Bruce Ferwerda
Enhancing Music Recommender Systems with Multimedia Content: A Context-Aware Approach
Proceedings of the 26th International Society for Music Information Retrieval Conference, 561–568, 2025.

BibTeX

@inproceedings{Lesota2025MuRec,
    title = {Enhancing Music Recommender Systems with Multimedia Content: A Context-Aware Approach},
    author = {Lesota and Veronica Clavijo and Attia Rizwani and Schedl and Bruce Ferwerda},
    booktitle = {Proceedings of the 26th International Society for Music Information Retrieval Conference},
    pages = {561–568},
    year = {2025}
}

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