By Haylei Snelson
Music has been around for thousands of years, if not more. But, it has never been as available as it is now. With a variety of platform options, you can listen to almost any song with just the push of a button. These platforms can range from radio subscriptions such as Pandora, to premium ones such as Apple Music and Spotify. With all this accessibility to music, it is easy to see that music holds an important place in many people’s lives, but why?
Spotify – Web Player: Music for everyone
Music is oftentimes thought of as a form of entertainment, and though this is true, music has many other benefits. Music can also help people feel better. Not only does music cause a release of dopamine in your brain, which can help elevate your mood, but it can also help reduce stress and relieve symptoms of depression — Which is why music can be thought of as a form of therapy. Listening to music that makes you feel good can trick your brain into making you feel better. You might be wondering; What does music actually do for me? Well, music is like a jack of all trades. It can be used to improve the quality of sleep, mood, and even memory. If that wasn’t enough, music has also been found to help manage pain. It’s no wonder people listen to music so much, with all of these benefits!
Even with all of these benefits, there is still so much more that music helps with, so much so that there is still research being done on the benefits of music. It is no surprise that music can help so much. Most people instinctively have a go to song that they listen to when they want to feel confident or before a big speech; something to help them prepare and feel ready. Although music can boost your confidence and your spirit, it can also help slow you down. There are songs now that have been proven to reduce anxiety and even sleep. A song called “Weightless” by Marconi Union was shown to scientifically cause a reduction in feelings of anxiety and even help you fall asleep faster.
With all of these benefits it is a wonder what we will find out about the benefits of music next!
The Remix: The Gift of Music was originally published in The Herald on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.