That's very interesting Robin!
Your reference to time and psychology as it relates to listening to music makes me think of how I have often related to listening to the radio.
Especially before digital/streaming took over.
When listening to the radio, say driving, when a song I knew came on, especially if it was a song that was just becoming popular - that second or third time you hear it and it sinks in as a great tune - there was something more special about it. You had no control over what you were going to hear on the radio. And it was broadcast "live" to the public as you were listening. There was a sort of connectedness to the buzz of new popular music. Even if I was driving alone in the car hearing it, I was part of a large audience hearing it at the same time. Sort of like live TV.
So when a song came on that I liked there was a "yay, I LOVE this song" bit of surprise while also being part of a larger audience all listening right then to the same song. It just changes the texture of the listening experience for me, almost a bit more buzz, more live, than just, say, putting a CD on in the car, or from the ipod, or later from an iphone or streaming where you are totally in control and the only one listening to the song.
I know that some other people may not have felt the same, and relish their absolute control given by the digital universe. Some of this divide, if there is one, may also be seen between those of us who love going to The Movies to watch a film with a live audience (me!) vs those who are grateful to finally be able to watch movies at home, without the "bother" of other people impeding the experience.