The benefits of sad songs

From Pacific Standard: "Most of us do turn to melancholy music from time to time. What do we get out of the experience? A newly published study provides a multifaceted answer. Liila Taruffi and Stefan Koelsch, from the Free University of Berlin, surveyed 722 people on the subject of sad songs. 'For many individuals, listening to sad music can actually lead to beneficial emotional effects," they write. 'Music-evoked sadness can be appreciated not only as an aesthetic, abstract reward, but (it) also plays a role in well-being, by providing consolation as well as regulating negative moods and emotions.'"