ABSTRACT

The quantity and quality of music motivation and engagement research has expanded over the past three decades. This chapter summarises some of the salient research in music motivation and engagement and its links with established motivation and engagement theories. In considering the breadth of motivation factors relevant to this research and theorising, we contend that there has been some diffusion of constructs and ideas in recent years. In response to this, we present an integrative multidimensional model of motivation and engagement (the Motivation and Engagement Wheel), along with its relevance to the music domain and related findings from research with musicians. Following this, we outline some of the latest music motivation and engagement research, along with top line findings from the recent Australia Council for the Arts and Australian Research Council research project that is the focus of the current volume, illustrating some of the yields of music motivation and engagement for various academic and personal well-being outcomes. The chapter concludes with suggestions for future research and practice in music motivation and engagement.