Background <p>This study examines the association between passion for music and absorptive capacity through the mediating role of flow experience and the moderating role of mindset. Extending absorptive capacity from its traditional organizational roots to individual learning contexts, the study conceptualizes it as a cognitive capability through which music students recognize, assimilate, and apply domain-specific knowledge. Grounded in self-determination theory and flow theory, passion for music was modeled as a higher-order construct comprising harmonious passion and obsessive passion, reflecting their shared motivational core in sustaining intensive musical engagement.</p> Methods <p>Data were collected from 419 undergraduate and postgraduate music students across diverse formal music programs in universities across Fujian Province, China, using a cross-sectional survey design. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed to evaluate measurement and structural models.</p> Results <p>The results indicate that passion for music is significantly related to flow experience, which in turn is positively associated with absorptive capacity. Moreover, mindset strengthens the relationship between flow experience and absorptive capacity. Moderated mediation analysis further reveals that the conditional indirect effect of passion for music on absorptive capacity through flow experience is stronger for students with higher levels of growth mindset.</p> Conclusion <p>The study contributes to theory by providing empirical support for passion for music as a multidimensional construct and illustrating the applicability of absorptive capacity to individual learning processes, integrating passion and flow frameworks to explain learning outcomes, and highlighting the boundary role of mindset in shaping motivational and cognitive processes.</p>