Abstract
Two studies examined the effect of repetition on the familiarity and likeability of popular music recordings, utilising the "natural" repetition of records in the music media. The rationale is that the higher the chart position a record achieves and the longer it stays in the chart the more repetitions it receives. One study obtained familiarity and likeability ratings for recordings which had recently completed chart runs. The other measured familiarity and likeability as a function of how long current hits had been in the chart. Familiarity was a function of chart performance but likeability was not. Hence repetition increases familiarity but has little effect on likeability. Various reasons for the absence of a link between repetition and likeability are discussed, including the possibility of a self-regulating mechanism which decreases exposure once likeability begins to decline. The need to consider likeability in terms of appeal to specific "taste publics" is also recognised.
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