I was surprised that my favorite music streaming service has a playlist called Sad Songs. I wondered: Why would anyone want to listen to a bunch of sad songs? I assumed that sad songs make you sad, ...

Paradoxically, people can be attracted to music that evokes sadness. Scrutiny of Billboard’s list of No. 1 songs from 1958 through 2013 reveals the dominant popularity of upbeat, happy music over sad, ...