As a whole, we’re creative people. Creative doesn’t always have to mean artistically either. We build incredible structures, design beautiful mosaics in the sky and on the ground. But, the one thing that brings us together more than anything is music.
The importance of music is well known by the people who take the time to open their ears and listen to it. Let’s learn more about how music has impacted our society and how it still does today.
Music Is Peace
We all seek more peace and tranquility in our lives. It’s challenging to find that in our busy day to day, go go go all the time lifestyle. It’s only getting worse.
Sometimes we need that escape and that time away from it all. While you’re on your morning commute, take a look around and see everyone walking, riding the bus, or driving and listening to music.
Why are they doing that? They do it because it provides them with the peace they need to go about their day. Listening to music can help boost your mood and reduce stress, and some of us need that to get up and stay active throughout our busy lives.
Imagine what a house party, backyard barbeque, or wedding reception would be like without music? It’s hard even to fathom that thought because it’s ingrained in our soul that when we relax together or apart, we always listen to music.
It Provides Focus
Do you have a specific type of music you like to listen to when you’re studying or working? Certain studies suggest that listening to instrumental classical music helps with concentration, and it relieves the stress you’re putting on your mind.
But why is this the case? Some may suggest that it’s a distraction for the subconscious mind. While we’re using our brain to immediately focus on the task at hand, in the background, we need to entertain our subconscious so it doesn’t get in the way of what we’d like to accomplish.
Some say it helps because you simply enjoy it. We like listening to music, so as a result, we get more done when we have it on when we’re working and studying. What sounds more enjoyable to you? Working for five hours in complete silence or working for five hours while listening to your favorite music?
Yes, of course, you said the ladder, and that’s why so many employers allow their team to listen to music or have a small radio at their desk when they work.
Music Brings Us Together
People travel for miles and miles to attend concerts and music festivals. Why do they do that? A big part of the reason why is because of the community of other people who enjoy that same music. They enjoy being a part of that community; it makes them feel welcomed and comfortable.
It also goes for an earlier point we mentioned when talking about the fact that when we come together, we listen to music. Before the company comes over for a dinner party, you might turn on a little background music to provide a nice environment and give them something to listen to.
It’s incredible to think about all the different types of music and how people all over the world can bond over a certain genre or artist without knowing each other. Music often creates an experience.
The experience of music is that of an escape from reality. That escape is what brings us together.
The Language of the World
The importance of music goes far beyond these abstract concepts. Music is the only language that everyone can understand. No matter what the words are saying, we can still “feel” the music no matter who we are or where we are.
If you’ve ever gone to a music festival, you might look around and realize that some people in the crowd cannot even speak or understand the language that is said, because it doesn’t matter. Music isn’t so much something that you hear as it is something that you feel.
Have you ever put a song on, and the second you do, it lifts your mood and makes you happy? This is so true because music impacts us and hits us much deeper than our eardrums.
It Taps into Our Emotions
Music is pain, but music is also healing. When we listen to it, we must try to feel the artist’s emotion, and even if there isn’t any, translate that into our own emotion.
Music can heal our pain, as well. It’s a therapeutic process that helps us when we’re feeling down and even helps us to feel when we can’t feel anything at all. In some cases, we need music just to get through a rough day, and it always provides a consistent outlet for those in need.
Part of the reason it’s so powerful for your emotion is that there is always a way to relate yourself to the artist and put yourself in their shoes. Whatever they’re feeling or thinking, you can feel and think as well with the right mentality.
Listening to music allows you to think, “there is someone out there who understands me.” That’s a powerful narrative in a world consumed by fakes and false promises.
It Allows Our Minds to Roam Free
Sometimes we need a break. There are times where you wake up, and you simply want to call into your job, drop your kids off at daycare, put your phone on silent, and forget about life for a few hours. It’s perfectly normal to want to do this.
Music is our escape when there is nowhere else to go. It’s our personal oasis and a soft pillow to land on when you come back to Earth. Now and then, we all need a musical session where we hang up everything for a little while and do nothing else but listen.
Think of how powerful that is – instead of doing, taking, or controlling. For a little while, we just get to listen. When you reflect on that, it really owns up your mind to the importance of music.
It’s All Cultural
Music is culture. We all have different genres and styles, but it’s much deeper than that. In some countries, they associate music with specific rituals and religions. Some people listen to music to go to a spiritual place where they become closer to their God or Deity.
Over time we’ve seen mainstream music change, and that’s part of our culture as well. If you take a look back through the decades, you’ll continue to see patterns. Certain artists impacted communities and affected entire cultures and races of people with their songs.
Certain cultures have different preferences. Those who listen to gospel music may not listen to the mainstream stuff because they find it offensive and vice versa. We all have options, and our upbringing and living conditions often dictate the type of music we listen to.
Music Is Therapy
It’s incredible to see the impact music can have on those who are suffering. Another example of musical therapy is in nursing homes and hospice facilities across the country. Music is used to reduce aggression, evoke positive emotion, and improve the quality of life for senior citizens.
Something even more interesting is that in these homes, they often use someone who is actually singing while providing care to the person. They’re not listening to music, but instead, they get to hear someone’s voice, which can be so powerful for someone who may not receive a lot of visitors and may feel forgotten in this life.
It provokes emotion while sitting here writing about it. Music therapy is not only helpful for senior citizens but also for:
- Those suffering from PTSD
- NICU babies
- Pregnant mothers
- Troubled youth
- Special needs children
Music Allows Us to Express Ourselves
For many, music is freedom in a world where freedom doesn’t exist. We live a life that is often dictated by the people around us. We grow up in a household where someone is always telling us what to do and when to do it.
Then we become adults, and we have spouses, bosses, and children controlling and dictating our lives, so sometimes we have a hard time expressing what we want out of life. Music offers this to us in our time of need.
Music provides the freedom to listen to what you want when you want, where you want, and how you want. No one can take away our freedom to listen to the music that we enjoy, and we want to hear. Even in some places where basic human rights aren’t guaranteed, some of these people still get to listen to the music they want.
It’s Abundant
Once again, in a world plagued by scarcity and a lack of resources, music is always there. Music is abundant because there are more than enough options to go around and a million different ways to enjoy it.
In our modern society we can get any song we want on our mobile phones, how powerful is that? We have the power to lift our mood and provide a song to our life whenever we want, no matter where we are.
This luxury doesn’t exist all over, and it hasn’t existed for long in the grand scheme of things. Music is abundant because there is plenty of talent to go around. Everyone has something to offer. Even if your music doesn’t seem “mainstream” enough, you have an audience.
Music Is Timeless
Years ago, the entire family would gather around the record player or the radio to listen to music at night before television became a popular thing. At this time, people weren’t talking; they weren’t distracted; they were simply listening to something.
Over time this music has stuck around, and why is that? It’s almost like the classic novels that will never go away. Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and Moby Dick. These books stand the test of time, and so does a lot of music.
Think of what a huge impact artists have had on the world. How the plane crash death of Richie Valens shook the entire world or when many artists today die of drug abuse and mental health. We often live through these artists and feel what they feel.
The bright side of all of this is we still have their music, and their story will live on forever. We’ll never forget them because they were able to put pen to paper and make an impact while they were alive.
It’s Important for Our Youth
Music is everywhere, and our children are absorbing it from all ends. It plays an important role in our children growing up to be social creatures who understand how to find positive entertainment that has a good effect on them.
A big part of why music is so important for young people is because it helps them find their identity. It’s a challenge being a teenager in today’s world because there’s an identity crisis. It’s hard to swallow, but we have to face the fact that youth suicide is up in a world that we claim is more inclusive than ever.
Bullying is a serious problem, and kids today are faced with a choice. They can choose to find an outlet for the stress and strain of growing up, or they can succumb to the pressures and turn to things like drugs, alcohol, or worse.
It Stimulates
While many use music to relax, some use it to get excited and stimulated. The best example is EDM, house, and techno music. We play these in our clubs across the country, but imagine if you went to a club that was playing George Straight instead of Kygo, you’d likely walk in and immediately get hit with a different feeling, right?
It might change your mood completely. Instead of grabbing a drink and getting out on the dance floor, you might hang around the sides a little and feel off. Why is that?
Certain music stimulates you and provides you with energy while others depress your mind and make you reflect and calm down. When you go to a club, you expect to get energized by the environment; it’s all part of the experience.
It’s Sexy and Intimate
There are some interesting studies about the connection between music and sex. A neurological study suggests that music in the home increases the amount of intimacy and, ultimately, the amount of sex you have.
If you’re struggling with a poor sex life or a low sex drive, music might be your solution. But why is it sexy, and why does it make us feel more intimate with our partners?
One study by Nature Neuroscience shows that both music and sex light up the same part of the brain. They both provide dopamine to the brain, so as a result, they both lift our mood and make us feel great. With that logic, the two seem to go hand-in-hand, don’t you think?
Music Is Athletic
When we think of athletes, we don’t usually think of the trumpet player blowing wind into his instrument, but why not? Many musical instruments take a ton of effort to play, which leads to burning calories and sweat, so why not consider this a workout?
If you’re a guitar player, you also know what a workout it can be on your wrists, forearms, and triceps when you’re strumming for hours. Music is athletic, and it has a positive impact on our physical health just like it does our mental health.
It provides something to do for people who may not feel like they have anything else to do, and that’s important as well. There are a million different choices you can make, and if you choose not to be active and play sports as a child, music can become a quick substitute for that.
Music Can Save Lives
This point is so true, and we see it happen all the time. Our mind runs back to the pop-punk era, where people were confused and trying to find themselves in a rapidly changing world. That’s what all that music was about.
So what ends up happening is that a broken teenager who doesn’t know is she wants to live anymore, turns on that music, and relates to someone when there is no one out there who understands them. The lyrics literally spell it out, and even though they don’t provide a solution to their problem, it shows the teenager that someone else feels it too.
The same goes for the broken-hearted middle-aged man whose wife left him for another man. He might be near the edge of his existence mentally, but he turns on a sad song, and suddenly, he feels peaceful. Not because the music brought his wife back but because he found someone to relate to.
Music Can Change Lives
How many music shows do we have on TV where they grant opportunities to people from all over the world. These people go from working average everyday jobs to becoming superstars in a matter of months. Music grants opportunity, and it’s unbiased and nondiscriminatory.
Music doesn’t care if you’re black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, transgender, skinny, overweight, young, or old. It doesn’t matter because you have a voice and something to offer.
It shows us that we can make it, and we can accomplish greatness against all the odds. The importance of music in society is providing opportunities when none exist.
Music Tells a Story
Many artists are capable of telling their entire life story in one song or an entire album. It’s powerful to be able to use your story to impact the lives of others. Many people feel they have nothing to tell or that they don’t have an interesting story, but that’s the most intriguing part of it all.
Everyone has a story to tell, and no matter how small and insignificant you feel, you have something to offer this world. There is someone out there right now waiting to hear about what you have to say about life.
This factor is what gets a lot of artists out of bed each day and into the studio. They know that people out there are waiting for their words and their fans and looking to hear what they have to say next.
It Inspires
Music is incredibly inspirational; it’s exciting; it’s motivating. On one side, you have the person listening to some pump-up music before going in for that big interview that may change their life forever.
On the other side, you have a mother sitting in her home with her new baby with music on in the background to try and soothe the baby’s emotions and calm him down. These are two completely different scenarios, but in a way, they’re exactly the same, and that’s part of what makes music so important.
We can be millions of miles away, but we’re still in tune somehow, and that’s through the music we listen to. We all get inspired by different music at different points in our life. Best of all, there is more than enough to go around.
It Teaches Us to Accept What We Can’t Control
If you think of that old saying, “death and taxes are the only things you can’t control,” you might realize they forgot one, music. We don’t control the music we hear much of the time because we’re listening to the radio, we hear what’s on TV, we listen to morning shows, and we hear this music.
Of course, we could turn it off, but we don’t. Why don’t we? Many believe we leave it on because it’s out of our control, and we’re okay with that. When we’re exposed to issues outside of our control frequently, it makes us feel more comfortable outside of our comfort zone.
It’s important to have this type of exposure even from a young age because it teaches us that growth happens outside of the comfort zone. When we live our lives in this bubble, we never grow.
Music Sheds Light on Issues
This point is a bit controversial, and some might see it as a great thing, while others see it as a grand problem. Truthfully, it goes both ways. It’s incredible, and it’s also a problem.
Over the years, we’ve seen artists get more political with their writing, but they have such a large audience that they should use small opportunities to voice their opinions.
For example, we’ve seen a huge influx of musical content relating to the “me too” movement. Think of how much of an impact that can have when it falls into the right ears at the right time. A young woman might be out there suffering from an experience she had, but when she hears her favorite artist sing about coming forward, she might then have the courage to follow.
Rap artist Logic with Alessia Cara and Khalid had an incredibly popular song in 2017 called “1-800-273-8255”. That’s the suicide hotline, and they sang about how you don’t need to do it because there are better alternatives. When we use our voice for good, amazing things happen.
Music Is Sometimes a Harsh Reality
The importance of music extends far beyond things that are good and uplifting in our lives. Sometimes music makes us realize things we wouldn’t have otherwise noticed, whether it be due to lyrics or how we feel when we hear the song.
It’s important to understand that music doesn’t always have to provoke a positive emotion because negative emotions are an important aspect of how we feel as well.
When we feel in a negative way, it often leads us to:
- Act accordingly based on that emotion
- Make changes in our lives
- Do the things we know we’re supposed to do
In some situations, negative emotion is the most productive way to feel because it points us in the right direction and provides a solution to the problems that bother us.
It Might Be a Double-Edged Sword
In the spirit of productivity, music is sometimes a double-edged sword. While it leads to productivity and growth in many areas of life, sometimes music teaches us to relax and unwind. The best part of music is that we can experience these emotions in perfect harmony by simply listening to different genres.
Why do some people prefer certain music over others? Maybe it’s because they’re trying to provoke a certain emotion. It might have something to do with their emotions at the current point in time.
Either way, we’re all looking to achieve something when we listen to music, whether it’s growth, productivity, change, relaxation, or sadness. Music is an important part of our society and something that brings even the most different people together.