Why has music streaming gone up during the pandemic?
Why has music streaming gone up during the pandemic?
Music plays a significant role in the lives of many, even those who don’t make of it their profession. All the way throughout these unprecedented times, streaming of music went up by 20% compared to previous years and accounted for over 80% of music consumption in the UK. Now more than ever, people turned to music to find comfort, entertainment, and gain some relief from stress.
So why music? How exactly has it influenced us as we’ve gone through months of isolation and uncertainty?
Music as a stress-relief
2020 brought a lot of instability to many people’s lives - jobs were lost, mental health was negatively affected, and the constant worry that better times might be out of sight all played a role in the increase of stress amongst us all. Regardless of which specific aspect of your life you’ve been struggling with, music has always been there.
Research studies have shown the positive impact that music can have on stressed individuals, so much that music is used to relax and reduce emotional distress in hospital patients and the elderly in care homes. So it’s no wonder that when things get difficult, we turn to music to make us feel more hopeful for the future and de-stress.
Sometimes, a simple action like waking up listening to music, or carrying out tedious tasks like cleaning while listening to our favourite songs can have a more significant impact on our mood than we might think. Next time life feels overwhelming, try putting on your favourite music and see how it affects you.
Music to cope with isolation
Beyond the financial worries and anxiety, there is also the loneliness of isolation. Whether you have experienced this time alone or with the people you live with, not being able to go out to socialize with loved ones, or even missing out on the smallest interactions that made up our ‘normal’ routine can take its toll.
Research has shown that listening to comforting music makes us feel less alone and consequently improves our mood. Even more, the internet allows us to still connect with people through a mutual love for a certain type of music.
Music to stay entertained
Going through days, weeks, and months that look pretty much the same, with little to no excitement is bound to make us feel bored. Thankfully, we don’t need to leave the home to dance around to our favourite songs, and a little enjoyable thing like that of dancing to music or even watching concerts via streaming platforms allowed us to keep having fun with music.
Outside of solely listening to it, another way that music can keep us entertained is by learning an instrument. After all, what better time to pick up an instrument and really focus on learning it than lockdown?
Whether you’ve relied on music to keep yourself in a good mood, found comfort in listening to your favourite songs when things got tough or used it as a fun way to get through tedious tasks, it’s clear why music streaming has seen such a rise over the pandemic. No matter what’s happening in the world, music is always there to help.
