Music and the Market: Song and Stock Volatility

Abstract:     
I compare the annual average beat variance of the songs in the US Billboard Top 100 since its inception in 1958 through 2007 to the standard deviation of returns of the S&P 500 for the same year and find that they are significantly negatively correlated. With the recent high stock volatility, people should now prefer less volatile music. Furthermore, the beat variance appears able to predict future market volatility, producing 2.5 volatility points of profit per year on average.

Keywords: music, trading strategy, billboard, variance, volatility

JEL Classifications: G12

Working Paper Series