Enhancing Music Recommender Systems With Multimedia Content: A Context-Aware Approach

The evolution of the music industry has introduced multimedia elements—such as video, text, and images—into music consumption. However, current Music Recommender Systems (MRSs) remain predominantly audio-focused, requiring explicit user interaction to access additional media. This study explores the integration of multimedia content into MRSs, considering the role of contextual activities and the Uses and Gratifications (U&Gs) framework in enhancing personalization and engagement. A diary study with 26 participants over one week identified nine key activities, with Household Chores, Workout, and Focusing being the most relevant. These activities revealed novel U&Gs such as "For Preference", "For Convenience", "For Discovery", and "To Get Distracted". A subsequent user study compared a Basic Music App (audio-only) with a Modified Music App (multimedia-enhanced). Results showed that participants preferred the Modified Music App across five constructs: novelty, ease of use, usefulness, satisfaction, and intention to use. These findings suggest that multimedia-enhanced recommendations can improve user experience by aligning with activity-specific preferences. The study contributes to research on personalized MRSs and offers insights for developing context-aware, multimedia-driven recommendations.