Every now and then, I think about this question a lot. I think that even many die-hard music lovers, who can’t live a day without listening to some form of music like I do, don’t realize the importance that music has in our lives. Now, what I’m writing about today is really more about personal feeling, rather than scientific research and hard numbers. Although I have found some interesting data to point you to. Whether we “listen” to music or not, we are effected by it in a profound way. Even when we watch a movie, without really understanding the scientific reasons for it; when we hear a particular music, it tells us when the actor is approaching danger. Another piece of music will send a subliminal message that something comedic is about to happen. Music isn’t just something we play when we feel like dancing or partying.
Not Based On Scientific Data, Although..
Music is almost like a miracle drug, once we take it, it can almost instantaneously effect our mood. Music just doesn’t heal us or make us feel good, it can also send us subliminal messages from the first musical note. This is one of the reasons I believe that although it appears that most people don’t pay attention to lyrics, it is important that music artist are mindful of the lyrics they use, because they are just as impactful as the music over a long period time. Furthermore, more so than not, I think that young people are still adversely effected by lyrics on a subconscious level, despite the fact that most young kids don’t take the time to reflect on them.
I stumbled upon an interesting report done by ifpi in 2018. It’s called a Music Consumer Insight Report. In essence, the report is not only a study on music behavior around the world, but the acceptance of music streaming. At the start of the report, it states that on average people listen to music over 2 hours everyday. Personally, I think we listen to music more than that. Why? The report doesn’t appear to take in to account people who have jobs in retail stores, who might be listening to music all day; or accurately representing data that may come from YouTube.
Understand how music plays a very important role in our lives, I’m kind of saddened by the new reality for inspiring artists today. Which is, if you’re not Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Drake, or lucky enough to get a once in a lifetime record deal, you’re just not going to get paid well from streaming services. I was watching a college interview on YouTube awhile back, and one of the women on the panel said that the value of music for new artists today (from streaming perspective), is the equivalent of someone making less than minimum wage. While legal streaming is still on the rise, according to that report, 38% of people (globally) still download illegally (despite being able to get it free legally by way of Spotify & YouTube). This reality confirms what I’ve been writing about for some time now, which is the fruits of their labor will not be seen until the old Napster generation dies off. Those old habits for most people cannot be broken.