Taein Song, Soojin Kang, Kyung Myun Lee

Cochlear implants (CI) are a widely used treatment for restoring hearing in patients with profound hearing loss. However, as devices originally designed to enhance speech recognition, they have structural limitations in precisely conveying complex auditory stimuli like music. Research indicates that these technical constraints may diminish post-implantation enjoyment and appreciation of music. However, the musical experiences of CI users show significant individual variation due to various factors, including age of onset of hearing loss, duration of implant use, and pre-implantation musical experience. Therefore, this study aimed to deeply understand the everyday musical experiences of CI users and explore common patterns and notable individual differences within them. To achieve this, we collected the top 200 highly upvoted posts containing the keyword 'Music' and their comments from the 'r/CochlearImplants' board on Reddit, the largest English-language online community. We then conducted quantitative analysis using sentiment analysis and topic modeling to identify overall discussion themes and the frequency of music-related elements mentioned. Additionally, thematic analysis was employed to conduct a qualitative analysis, aiming to deeply understand individual users' contextual experiences and personal differences. The analysis revealed that many CI users exhibited a common tendency to repeatedly listen to music they knew before implantation, utilizing it in their initial rehabilitation process. This listening strategy was found to contribute to rehabilitation by bridging pre- and post-implantation sounds and to enhance the music appreciation experience. Experiences such as displaying lyrics, playing instruments, and reading sheet music were also identified as contributing factors to music appreciation and rehabilitation. However, significant individual differences were observed in overall attitudes toward music and levels of engagement; while some users completely abandoned music appreciation after implantation, others reported enjoying music more actively than during their normal hearing period. Additionally, distinct individual patterns emerged in strategies for utilizing assistive technologies to enhance the music experience, such as Bluetooth streaming, programming setting adjustments, and headphone usage. This study empirically demonstrates the need for music listening support strategies that account for individual differences, based on large-scale online text data analysis of actual music experiences among CI users. Based on the analysis results, it proposes key features for designing future music listening interfaces for CI users, including 'adjustment of individual acoustic elements, personalized rehabilitation programs, and multimodal music listening support'.