Listening to music produces vivid color experiences, often with shapes and textures that shift with melody, harmony, and rhythm.
Inducer
music
Concurrent
color
Category
Auditory Visual
One of the most common forms. Listening to music produces vivid color experiences that shift with melody, harmony, and rhythm. Pharrell Williams describes 'seeing music' as integral to his process. Lorde won't work on a song if its colors are 'too oppressive or ugly.' Charli XCX favors songs that are 'black, pink, purple or red.' Research links it to enhanced structural connectivity between auditory and visual cortices.
Ward, J. et al. (2024). Synaesthesia and music preference. Psychology of Music, 53(3).
View publication →Zamm, A. et al. (2013). The aesthetics of music-color synesthesia. Consciousness and Cognition.
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