Just like the babies on YouTube or your best friend at the bar, people respond to music. But what about other species - specifically cats?
Charles T. Snowdon and Megan Savage from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, along with David Teie from the University of Maryland, hypothesized "that in order for music to be effective with other species, it must be in the frequency range and with similar tempos to those used in natural communication by each species," according to their study "Cats Prefer Species-Appropriate Music." The study and its results appear in the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science.
The researchers created music that mimics the natural frequency range and sounds that cats are used to and found that cats (especially younger and older cats, as opposed to middle aged cats) prefer species-specific music over human music.
If you listen to the clip, you will hear a deep purring bass line topped by a high pitched Theremin-like whistle that mimics the higher octave of cat meows and trills. The percussive is a staccato noise reminiscent of a cat on a scratching post or perhaps, suckling. The overall feel is slow and trippy.
