Though it almost feels as if it was a lifetime ago, I began my radio career on the music side until I was given an opportunity to make the switch to my preferred path in talk radio. One of the regular conversations we had in programming meetings was the role of music as a mood enhancer. It went like this, good music will enhance however you feel at the time you hear it. If there’s not an emotional connection with the music, it probably isn’t a “good” song. Or if you hear Nirvana today and wonder how you ever tolerated a full song let alone a full album or concert, our tastes obviously change with time. So, our definition of what a good song is subjective to us over time as our tastes change as well.
A study published in the journal Scientific Reports has confirmed what we were discussing in music meetings twenty years ago. Music will enhance your mood. But here’s the key. It can do more than enhance it. It can change it. These days we’re subjected to regular emotional swings. The constant news cycle, 24/7 access to information and the influence platforms like social media are playing on our emotions like never before. To that end, when you listen to positive music you connect with, it will likely leave you feeling better than you did before listening to it. Negative music will do the same.
Based on this info having your go-to feel-good playlist could be the key to getting through a rough patch in your day, while it might be a good idea to simply cut out the Nirvana like music that occupies your playlist, and no I don’t mean to specifically pick on Nirvana but I can’t honestly imagine how I tolerated it, I was never full of that much angst.
Photo by: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic