A study published in Psychology of Music used an AI tool named MuseAI to analyze 35 years of top-charting Australian songs, revealing that hit music frequently taps into core human psychological needs like relatedness, autonomy, and competence. The researchers found that themes of human connection were the most dominant, appearing in 73% of chart-topping songs, with lyrics about satisfying these emotional needs appearing far more frequently than those about having them frustrated. The study also noted that thematic presence varies by musical genre and listener age, underscoring music’s critical, low-cost role as an accessible tool for personal emotion regulation and mental health support.