  Music affects and in some cases reflects one's emotional state. Key to this
influence is lyrics and their meaning in conjunction with the acoustic
properties of the track. Recent work has focused on analysing these acoustic
properties and showing that individuals prone to depression primarily consume
low valence and low energy music. However, no studies yet have explored lyrical
content preferences in relation to online music consumption of such
individuals. In the current study, we examine lyrical simplicity, measured as
the Compressibility and Absolute Information Content of the text, associated
with preferences of individuals at risk for depression. Using the six-month
listening history of 541 Last.fm users, we compare lyrical simplicity trends
for users grouped as being at risk (At-Risk) of depression from those that are
not (No-Risk). Our findings reveal that At-Risk individuals prefer songs with
greater information content (lower Compressibility) on average, especially for
songs characterised as Sad. Furthermore, we found that At-Risk individuals also
have greater variability of Absolute Information Content across their listening
history. We discuss the results in light of existing socio-psychological
lab-based research on music habits associated with depression and their
relevance to naturally occurring online music listening behaviour.
