Personalisation and profiling using algorithms and not-so-popular Colombian music: goal-directed mechanisms in music emotion recognition

This work investigates how personalised Music Emotion Recognition (MER) systems may lead to sensitive profiling when applied to musically induced emotions in politically charged contexts. We focus on traditional Colombian music with explicit political content, including (1) vallenatos and social son...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Gómez-Cañon, Juan Sebastián, Lennie, Thomas Magnus, Eerola, Tuomas, Aragón, Pablo, Cano, Estefanía, Herrera, Perfecto, Gómez, Emilia
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:dnet:recercat____::ccbe1f197dc435d7bb6e208474a5a4f4
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10230/73309
http://dx.doi.org/10.1140/epjds/s13688-025-00595-1
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Music emotion recognition
Polarisation
Profiling
Colombia
Personalisation
Descripción
Sumario:This work investigates how personalised Music Emotion Recognition (MER) systems may lead to sensitive profiling when applied to musically induced emotions in politically charged contexts. We focus on traditional Colombian music with explicit political content, including (1) vallenatos and social songs aligned with the left-wing guerrilla Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), and (2) corridos linked to sympathisers of the right-wing paramilitary group Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC). Using data from 49 participants with diverse political leanings, we train personalised machine learning models to predict induced emotional responses -particularly negative emotions. Our findings reveal that political identity plays a significant role in shaping emotional experiences of music with explicit political content, and that emotion recognition models can capture this variation to a certain extent. These results raise critical concerns about the potential misuse of emotion recognition technologies. What is often framed as a tool for wellbeing and emotional regulation could, in politically sensitive contexts, be repurposed for user profiling. This work highlights the ethical risks of deploying AI-driven emotion analysis without safeguards, particularly among populations that are politically or socially vulnerable. We argue that subjective emotional responses may constitute sensitive personal data, and that failing to account for their sociopolitical context could amplify harm and exclusion.