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Musicares (Recording Academy) offers this resource guide for the music community allowing further preventive care and recovery opportunities available for all.

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MusiCares mission is to support the music community in times of need.

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Music Industry is Having a Mental Health Crisis 

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Music Industry is Having a Mental Health Crisis 

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Too many artists lose their lives to mental illness and addiction well before their time

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Note: This article contains discussions of suicide.
More than 73 percent of independent music makers experience symptoms of mental illness. And this statistic was released before the pandemic. In 2019, Swedish digital distribution platform Record Union conducted a stunning study about the wellbeing of musicians, and it's evident that we are facing these demons at a disturbing rate.

With the world constantly wanting new, fresh music, considering the musicians behind the music is vital. Hilary Gleason, executive director of Backline says this is exactly what has been the motivation throughout her life.

"Whenever I've been having a hard time, it's like you go put on your favorite album, you put on your favorite song, or go to a show," Gleason says. "Making sure that everyone who has a hand in making that music happen is taken care of and can be supported on their journey is really important."

"Making sure that everyone who has a hand in making that music happen is taken care of and can be supported on their journey is really important." -Hilary Gleason, @backline_care Click To Tweet

Backline is an organization that connects participants of the music industry and their families to mental health and wellness support and resources-streamlining access to a network of trusted organizations and care providers. Some of these include case management, where Backline will provide professionals to help create customized care plans, support groups, and other resources such as free subscriptions, articles, and much more.

Backline is just one of an increasing number of organizations focused on mental health for musicians. When Mari Fong, music journalist and executive producer and host of the Check Your Head podcast, found out Chris Cornell died by suicide, the news hit her hard. Not even two months later, Chester Bennington of Linkin Park took his own life and soon after, so did AVICII. She was a fan of all of these artists, and thought it was time to put something positive out into the world before any more casualties of the music industry occurred. That's when she created the podcast.

"I like to encourage people to get help when needed," Fong says. "Often we try different things our own way but if it's time to go to a professional, somebody who has the experience with a lot of patience to guide you, by all means, do that."

If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or find a suicide crisis line in your area.
Stress, anxiety, and depression were reported as the most commonly experienced negative emotions by independent music makers in relation to their music. What's the biggest trigger, you might ask? Financial instability.

"There is still that notion that the show must go on," says Gleason. "You don't get to call a mental health day or a sick day. Many people have put their own mental health on the back burner for the good of the show or for their band. Then you get into the late nights and inconsistent sleep and the inconsistent financial side of things where you have to take work because you don't know when the next job is coming."

"There is still that notion that the show must go on. You don't get to call a mental health day or a sick day. Many people have put their own mental health on the back burner . . ." -Hilary Gleason, @backline_care Click To Tweet

Before the disruption of the touring industry due to COVID-19, most musicians were relying on tours and live performances as a primary means of financial support and with many musicians out of work, Backline witnessed their case management submissions quadruple. Over the course of this pandemic, we have seen more and more discourse surrounding the mental state of musicians and how the industry plays a giant role.

Gleason says, "We're understanding that so much of it is systemic. That goes beyond just the artists, which, the mental health challenges for the artists themselves can be a little bit easier to understand. But really, we serve the music industry in its entirety. So crew people, agents, and managers ... some of the reasons we're seeing more and more mental health struggles is because there is no governing body. There is no HR in most of these organizations."

With the pandemic came an illumination of many systemic issues, especially those that plague Black, Indegenous, and People of Color in America. This past April, Backline announced a partnership with Baltimore's Black Mental Health Alliance to educate, inform, and provide access to customized mental health resources for BIPOC. The critical piece of this partnership being to train the more than 150 mental health providers that make up Backline's clinical referral network.

"It was really clear to us," says Gleason. "Even before last summer, but certainly after, there was a huge call to action in our community like, 'Hey, my experience is not the same as yours.' What's going on right now is really taxing, exhausting. There is a need for clinicians that understand that and can speak to that."

These training sessions will cover topics such as the history of systemic racism and racial microaggressions within the music industry, barriers to accessing mental health care within BIPOC communities, and how these challenges can present in the form of mental strife, psychological fatigue and emotional exhaustion. Additionally, Backline and Black Mental Health Alliance will offer non-clinical training to other organizations, corporations, and individuals serving the music population.

"We're not just pairing people at whim, but asking, 'Do you want a Black therapist? Do you want any therapist who's been trained in cultural sensitivity, or in some of the racism that exists within the music industry?'" says Gleason. "Being able to actually put people with therapists who truly understand and have studied what's going on is taking it one step further to make sure that when somebody walks in to get started on their mental health journey, they feel welcome there. They feel understood there."

Spreading awareness and helping people feel understood on their mental health journey is a huge part of the work and Fong is doing exactly that with her podcast.

"It's just so important to hear how people got through their depression, their anxiety, and to hear what they did, what worked and what didn't work," she says. "One thing we really focus on with the podcast is solutions. It's one thing to talk about your story, but it's another thing to provide a list of solutions that people can try. Mental health is not one size fits all."

The Check Your Head Podcast hosts artists, musicians, and mental health experts who talk about their experiences and provide resources to seek help.

Backline held their first ever livestream fundraiser Set Break in Apriland nearly 2 million people listened to artists open up about their own mental health struggles. The festival-style event included live performances from artists such as Sara Bareilles and Leon Bridges and immersive wellness experiences from around the world.

"It was really powerful to have artists from every single genre, at every point in their career ... all sharing and normalizing this conversation around mental health," Gleason says. "It really does affect everyone. Whether or not you have struggled personally, you know someone who has."

Too many artists lose their lives to mental illness and addiction well before their time. With organizations like Backline and resources such as the Check Your Head podcast illuminating the mental health crisis within the music industry, the hope is that more people in the industry will get the help that they need.

"We've all seen musicians that we love lose their lives to a drug overdose or to a mood disorder," says Fong. "That's something we really don't want to see anymore. So that's also a part of the podcast that means a lot to me. Maybe I'm helping somebody out there. Maybe there's a musician that is going to keep going in the midst of something really difficult."

List of Resources: Read more mental health tips for musicians from a Backline therapist.

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The Music Industry is Having a Mental Health Crisis - Berklee Online Take Note

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The music industry is experiencing a mental health crisis, and the organization Backline is helping people in the music industry get the care they need.

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MusiCares provides crisis relief, preventive care, recovery resources, and need-based financial assistance for people across all music professions.

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**MusiCares is a resource to eligible music professionals impacted by natural disasters, including the fires in the greater Los Angeles area. Contact MusiCares to get started, and scroll down to view all MusiCares' & external fire relief resources.* *
Reach out for help: MusiCaresRelief@musicares.org or 800.687.4227. MusiCares' expert staff treat cases with integrity and confidentiality.

If you or someone you care about is in an emergency, please call 911 or text the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988. MusiCares is not a crisis hotline; we provide support tailored to clients' unique challenges over a period of time .
Family members or friends may contact MusiCares on behalf of a music professional with their permission. HOW WE HELP
MusiCares provides crisis relief, preventive care, recovery resources and need-based financial assistance in three key areas:

Mental Health & Addiction Recovery Services include preventive resources such as emotional support groups, referrals and financial assistance for counseling/therapy, and mental wellness workshops. In times of crisis, MusiCares facilitates and funds inpatient addiction recovery and mental health treatment and IPO (intensive outpatient) care. To bolster recovery, MusiCares provides continued outpatient care, assistance with sober living placement and costs, and hosts several addiction recovery support groups each week.

Health Services focus on emergency financial assistance for medical expenses and loss of work due to illness or injury, and recovery support through access to physical therapy and continued wellness resources. MusiCares also offers a variety of targeted health services including biannual clinics for dental, vision, and physical/holistic health, as well as ongoing hearing health and education services, smoking cessation efforts, and more.

Human Services include preventive programs addressing financial literacy, affordable housing, career development, legal issues, and senior services. In times of hardship, MusiCares provides humanitarian disaster relief, emergency financial assistance for basic living expenses like rent, utilities, car payments and insurance premiums, assistance with instrument replacement/repair if stolen or damaged in a natural disaster (excluding wear-and-tear), and funeral costs for a music professional or their family member.

Please reach out to MusiCaresRelief@musicares.org for more information or with questions about our services. WHO WE SERVE
Anyone working in the music industry is encouraged to contact MusiCares for help. This includes musicians, songwriters, engineers, producers, live crew, tour bus drivers, managers, agents, A&R, makeup artists, costume designers, music video creatives & technicians, and anyone whose livelihood depends on music or makes music happen.

Those requesting financial assistance must possess documentation of employment history in one of the following areas:

All approved assistance is paid directly to a third party or creditor such as a landlord, bank, utility company, hospital, doctor, or therapist.

Many preventive resources are free and available to all. See our events page and social media to access all clinics, screenings, workshops and webinars.

MusiCares serves music professionals in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

Resources for Those Affected by the Los Angeles Area Fires

MusiCares is a resource to the music community impacted by the fires in the Los Angeles area. MusiCares provides short-term disaster relief, including $1,500 in financial assistance and a $500 grocery card, to music professionals impacted. MusiCares disaster relief is intended to cover short-term costs, should you incur costs from evacuating (hotel, food, supplies). MusiCares is also able to provide additional support for individuals with considerable impact, including medical issues, damaged music equipment or longer-term relocation needs.

Individuals are eligible for MusiCares disaster relief support after 3 years employment in music in any capacity or credit on 6 commercially-released recordings. If you would like to request support from MusiCares, please reach out to musicaresrelief@musicares.org .

Music professionals may access financial assistance and referrals for mental health through MusiCares. Please reach out to musicaresrelief@musicares,org .

MusiCares facilitates weekly, virtual support groups free to all music professionals. They can be accessed here: Weekly Support Groups

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration ( SAMHSA - Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration ) provides free resources to access substance use services, mental health providers and additional resources.

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network ( Help Kids Cope | The National Child Traumatic Stress Network ) provides guidance and resources for parents to support their children to navigate the stress and trauma of disasters. MusiCares can also provide financial assistance and placement in mental health services for the children of eligible music professionals.

This Good Inside resource ( Gi_ResourcesforParentsNavigatingtheCaliforniaWildfires ) provides helpful guidance on having conversations with children about the fires and sample scripts.

988: If you or someone you know may be having suicidal thoughts or navigating a mental health crisis, please contact the 988 lifelife ( Get Help - 988 Lifeline )

The FEMA Wildfire Evacuation Checklist provides guidance on how to plan, prepare and pack for an evacuation.
Wildfire Evacuation Checklist
The County of Los Angeles Emergency Website ( Emergency - COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES ) has regularly updated information on access to shelters. Current shelters are listed below.

( ) is providing a limited number of airbnb rentals free of charge to individuals affected by evacuations. Individuals must demonstrate that they live in an area under evacuation.

If you need to evacuate and cannot care for your pet, shelters are available at the following locations.

Small Animals:

Large Animals:

Family Assistance Centers will open to provide information to people looking for missing family and friends due to the January 2025 fires in Los Angeles County. For more information contact (800) 675-5799 or visit  redcross.org .

Family Assistance Center at Cheviot Hills Recreation Center
2551 Motor Ave
Los Angeles, Ca 90064

Family Assistance Center at Pasadena Convention Center
Visitor's Bureau (building to the left of the civic auditorium)
300 E Green St.
Pasadena, Ca 91101

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MusiCares helps grant short-term financial assistance for personal or addiction needs that have arisen due to unforeseen circumstances. Such as rent, car payments, insurance premiums, utilities, medical/dental expenses, psychotherapy, addiction treatment, sober living, and other personal expenses

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Logic - 1-800-273-8255 ft Alessia Cara, Khalid

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Logic - 1-800-273-8255 ft Alessia Cara, Khalid

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Logic uses this song as a way to open up a dialog to the challenges of mental health and how it is vitally important to talk about hard topics such as suicide and anxiety. He understood that there were many people out there struggling, and he was too

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Logic - 1-800-273-8255 ft. Alessia Cara, Khalid (Official Video)

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This study focuses on a fandom (BTS) and their fans experience reflection, connection, and comfort through music from their favorite artists. it explores the influence of lyrics and external factors thus highlighting a dynamic, multifaceted relationship between music and mental well-being.

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Abstract

Research shows that music helps people regulate and process emotions to positively impact their mental health, but there is limited research on how to build music systems or services to support this. We investigated how engagement with music can help the listener support their mental health through a case study of the BTS ARMY fandom. We conducted a survey with 1,190 BTS fans asking about the impact BTS' music has on their mental health and wellbeing. Participants reported that certain songs are appropriate for specific types of mood regulations, attributed largely to lyrics. Reflection, connection, and comfort were the top three experiences listeners shared during and after listening to BTS' music. External factors like knowledge about the context of a song's creation or other fans' reactions to a song also influenced people's feelings toward the music. Our research suggests an expanded view of music's impact on mental health beyond a single-modal experience to a dynamic, multi-factored experience that evolves over time within the interconnected ecosystem of the fandom. We present the Dynamic Music Engagement Model which represents the complex, multifaceted, context-dependent nature of how music influences people's mental health, followed by design suggestions for music information systems and services.

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Authors and Affiliations

University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA

Arpita Bhattacharya, Uba Backonja, Anh Le, Ria Antony, Yujia Si & Jin Ha Lee

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jin Ha Lee .

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Editors and Affiliations

1. iSchool Organization, Berlin, Germany

Isaac Sserwanga

2. Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

Anne Goulding

3. University of Missouri, Chicago, IL, USA

Heather Moulaison-Sandy

4. University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia

Jia Tina Du

5. University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

António Lucas Soares

6. Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia

Viviane Hessami

7. University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Knoxville, TN, USA

Rebecca D. Frank

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© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

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Bhattacharya, A., Backonja, U., Le, A., Antony, R., Si, Y., Lee, J.H. (2023). Understanding the Influence of Music on People's Mental Health Through Dynamic Music Engagement Model. In: Sserwanga, I., et al. Information for a Better World: Normality, Virtuality, Physicality, Inclusivity. iConference 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 13971. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28035-1_8

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# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Understanding the Influence of Music on People's Mental Health Through Dynamic Music Engagement Model

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Research shows that music helps people regulate and process emotions to positively impact their mental health, but there is limited research on how to build music systems or services to support this. We investigated how engagement with music can help the listener...

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Showcases the importance of music and dance as social instruments and their ability to enhance connection, social cohesion, and musical bonds specifically within a live event setting.

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The Impacts of Music, Concerts, and Dance on Mental Health

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AbstractMusic and dance are important social instruments to enhance communication, social cohesion, and to enhance emotional expression that intensifies co

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By Alexandra Frost
Since her grandfather died five years ago, Casey Clark doesn't go a day without listening to music. It helps her cope with the grief, depression, and symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from seeing him in the hospital before he passed. When her symptoms flare, she listens to a Michael Bublé album because it was the last present she gave her grandfather, and they shared many happy memories listening to it together.

"It sounds cliché, but music actually serves as an escape in those moments when the flashbacks are so intense, and I can't get out of them with other grounding techniques," says Clark, 22, a writer who lives in New York City. It's the only way she's found to put those thoughts on pause.

The teen and young adult years have long been known as the most pivotal in developing a personal taste in music, and for many, it's the time that music matters the most. The average teen spends 2.5 hours per day listening to music, and over half of young adults , ages 18 to 29, report streaming music every day (compared to 24% of all adults).

This is good news, because music can be a great way to take care of your mental health.

Music can be distracting and lower your stress

"Music serves as a temporary distraction from the symptoms of my mental health issues," says Clark. In fact, research has shown that it can lessen the impact of depression and anxiety. A study done in 2019 found that college students who listened to classical music every day for two months lowered their levels of anxiety significantly.

Another 2016 study looked at the connection between music and anxiety by studying people who have a fear of heights. All of the participants were put in a virtual reality simulation of riding up nine floors in an elevator. One group listened to music during the experiment, and the other didn't. The researchers found that the people who listened to music recovered faster from the stress of the experience than those who didn't. And many studies have shown that listening to music can lower your blood pressure and your heart rate (both spike when you're stressed), and even lower stress hormones in your body.

When you want music to give you a break from what you're going through, pick songs that have a storyline different from the challenges you're facing, recommends Bethany Cook, PsyD, a psychologist and music therapist in Chicago. This can temporarily transport you elsewhere and give you a short break from your concerns, just like when you read a good book.

Music can help you feel your feelings

When her clients are in a bad mood or managing difficult emotions about the current state of the world, Cook recommends putting on a piece of classical music. "Listening to music that does not have lyrics attached to it lets the listener project their personal feelings and their personal struggle into the music," she says. And some research has found that even listening to "sad" music can make you feel some pleasant emotions, which might lessen the pain you are feeling or allow you to more safely feel sad feelings we sometimes try to avoid in life.

Music can make it easier to talk about what's troubling you

If you don't have the words to explain what you are going through, or if you don't feel comfortable talking about it, song lyrics can give you another way to express your feelings. Lyrics give you permission to better understand your own situation through someone else's perspective, says Cook . She uses something called "lyric analysis" when she works with kids and teens in group therapy settings. You can try it alone or with a friend or loved one. Here's how:

Bring up the lyrics on your phone(s).

Listen to the song.

Mark or highlight words and sentences that stand out to you.

Listen to the song again, pausing at the marked places, and discuss or think about why those lyrics spoke to you and how you relate to them.

Listen a final time reflecting on your new appreciation of what the song means to you or your friends.

Music can help you figure out who you are

Discovering music that resonates is one key way teens and young adults define who they are and who they want to be , says Michael Viega , PhD, a professor of music therapy at Montclair State University in Montclair, New Jersey. Both Viega and Cook strongly encourage parents, teachers, and caregivers to approach teens' and young adults' music with curiosity.

Showing interest in musical taste is a way to show an interest in who a young person is or is becoming. Even listening to music with questionable lyrics is an "opportunity," says Viega. It gives caregivers a chance to open a dialogue, asking teens what they think is happening in the song. Doing so can lead to meaningful conversations about important topics that can be difficult to talk about, says Viega.

"Music first turned me on to drag culture and the queer community when I was a teenager," says Viega. "It turned me on to feminist ideals, to ecology and ecological thinking."

Music builds community

Making music-through singing or playing an instrument in school, in a band, or with friends-can connect you with a community of people who share a common interest. And even if you don't play or sing, you can also find people who share your love for a particular band or type of music. Feeling a sense of belonging to something larger than yourself is a proven way to improve mental health.

Music builds your brain's capacity and connections

Music can improve the connection between your left and right brain, says Cook, who created a TikTok video describing the connections. She encourages people of all ages to try playing music-not to become a high-performing musician, but for their own brain development and health.

Music can be a quick mood booster

This is probably one of those things you don't need research to prove, but scientific research has found that listening to upbeat music with an intention of getting in a better mood actually works. Of course, this is something you can also research yourself on the daily.

Music can also benefit people who are deaf or have hearing loss

Research into music therapy for people who are deaf and also have mental health disorders is more limited, but case studies suggest, just as in hearing people, music can help people with hearing loss express emotions and improve cognitive abilities. Cook uses table drums to connect with her deaf cousin. "Table drums are massive, and you can lie underneath them and all of that sound vibration goes straight into your body," says Cook. Playing them together with her cousin has increased their connection and nonverbal communication.

If you would like to explore using music to make you feel better emotionally, Cook and Viega recommend:

Sampling different types of music to expand your horizons and find what you like.

Using music as a stress reliever when you are feeling anxious.

Discussing meaningful song lyrics with a friend.

Trying an instrument.

Talking about why you love a particular song with the adults in your life (or, if you're a caregiver, with your teen).

Listening to classical music when you have confusing or difficult emotions.

Creating playlists to match or inspire different moods.

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These days, pretty much everyone has some sort of social media account in order to stay connected, share hobbies, or even make money. And while people are constantly sharing photos and videos, it sometimes can make people feel a weird pressure to continue posting even if they don't particularly want to. That scenario is even truer for those individuals in the music industry.

Social media has been shown to play a huge part in so many people's success in music, whether it be from continuously posting on YouTube or having one of their songs randomly trend on TikTok. However, while we can have conversations upon conversations about how social media has opened up opportunity for artists of all kinds from different backgrounds to have a place to showcase their work, there is also a major downside that I feel isn't talked about enough.

This specific downside to social media in the music industry is something that I have had mulling around in my brain for a while now and I have finally found a way to put it into words. After seeing a few artist express annoyance or even just share their experience with this scenario, I really had a chance to fully articulate my thoughts. The downside in particular I am talking about is the expectation or pressure for artists to continue churning out content in order to remain relevant and successful. As mentioned above, social media has allowed for individuals from any sort of background to have a space to put whatever they want out into the world, but what that leads to is an overwhelming amount of content and over-saturation of most industries. Because of that overwhelming amount of content, users on the consuming side can easily lose interest or skip over otherwise good content. Whether it be their label's advice or simply the societal push to post more, artists are now expected to churn out some sort of content weekly, whether it be new music teasers, more about their personal life, and of course, the continuous high demands for new music. But what does that do to the creative process? Or even the quality of the art?

As someone who obviously has a special love for music, the thing that really draws me to music is the emotional understanding that comes with it. One of my favorite things in the world is finding a song where the artist is singing about something I have gone through and really being able to feel their emotions through their song and know they put their entire heart and soul into it. However, we cannot be oblivious to the fact that music like that can really take a lot out of an individual while creating it. We are lucky enough to have artists who are willing to be vulnerable and pour their emotions into a work of art, but expecting them to constantly be tapping into those emotions in order to continue to produce music has to be draining, as well as have a negative effect on their mental health. I also think that as the listener of music like this, it can also be pretty selfish to constantly be asking for more more more when they are already giving us so much of themselves to begin with.

Another point to the downside of this expectation is simply the question of the quality of work. Putting together and crafting an album to be able to release a collection of songs is a ton of work and even then, it may not be well received. But albums that end up being award winning or even fan favorites take time and effort, so who are we to rush that? I think that a perfect example of quality work taking time is Adele. Adele is known for putting out incredible albums, maybe doing a tour, and then disappearing for a few years. No one is really expecting her to put out a single every few months, or even put out a yearly album. However, many artists, especially up and coming, don't have the privilege of being as established as someone like Adele where they don't have to make efforts to stay relevant. So for these up and coming artists, it seems that their only hope at success in their music is to just consistently put out music and hope fans are still liking it, which most likely leads to a severe case of burnout before they really even get started in their career. Plus, as these newer artists work to put out music often, they are probably put in a position to not spend as much time on each individual song in order to really craft a masterpiece, which then leads to a lower chance of them gaining newer fans due to the decreased quality of their work. Even though I am not an artist myself, just thinking of that scenario makes me stressed out and overwhelmed.

So because of these impossible expectations that are put on artists in the world of social media, we end up with quite a bit of low quality songs that trend for a month and are soon forgotten about, as opposed to those songs that resonate with us and continue to hold a place on our favorite playlists. Now I am not saying that all music these days is soulless and just trendy junk, but I do think that the environment we have created within social media expectations tends to favor those quick cash grabs and doesn't leave creative time and space for those really high quality types of songs.

My main reason for wanting to write about this is to actually have a conversation surrounding these expectations of social media and maybe even find a solution for artists to be able to break out of those expectations. I truly fear that if we allow social media to pressure artists the way it is, we are going to miss out on real and genuine music because people are either too burnt out before they even start or they simply don't want to play into the constant need for content trap. As music lovers, we need to find a way to cherish and value those artists that are making music we love and be understanding when we feel like they aren't releasing enough music or as frequently as we like. Quality art cannot be rushed or mass produced and I think society needs to step back and really accept that.

Let me know what you think of these pressures and expectations put on artists. I'd love to indulge in conversation about this!

These days, pretty much everyone has some sort of social media account in order to stay connected, share hobbies, or even make money. And while people are constantly sharing photos and videos, it sometimes can make people feel a weird pressure to continue posting even if they don't particularly want to. That scenario is even truer for those individuals in the music industry.

Social media has been shown to play a huge part in so many people's success in music, whether it be from continuously posting on YouTube or having one of their songs randomly trend on TikTok. However, while we can have conversations upon conversations about how social media has opened up opportunity for artists of all kinds from different backgrounds to have a place to showcase their work, there is also a major downside that I feel isn't talked about enough.

This specific downside to social media in the music industry is something that I have had mulling around in my brain for a while now and I have finally found a way to put it into words. After seeing a few artist express annoyance or even just share their experience with this scenario, I really had a chance to fully articulate my thoughts. The downside in particular I am talking about is the expectation or pressure for artists to continue churning out content in order to remain relevant and successful. As mentioned above, social media has allowed for individuals from any sort of background to have a space to put whatever they want out into the world, but what that leads to is an overwhelming amount of content and over-saturation of most industries. Because of that overwhelming amount of content, users on the consuming side can easily lose interest or skip over otherwise good content. Whether it be their label's advice or simply the societal push to post more, artists are now expected to churn out some sort of content weekly, whether it be new music teasers, more about their personal life, and of course, the continuous high demands for new music. But what does that do to the creative process? Or even the quality of the art?

As someone who obviously has a special love for music, the thing that really draws me to music is the emotional understanding that comes with it. One of my favorite things in the world is finding a song where the artist is singing about something I have gone through and really being able to feel their emotions through their song and know they put their entire heart and soul into it. However, we cannot be oblivious to the fact that music like that can really take a lot out of an individual while creating it. We are lucky enough to have artists who are willing to be vulnerable and pour their emotions into a work of art, but expecting them to constantly be tapping into those emotions in order to continue to produce music has to be draining, as well as have a negative effect on their mental health. I also think that as the listener of music like this, it can also be pretty selfish to constantly be asking for more more more when they are already giving us so much of themselves to begin with.

Another point to the downside of this expectation is simply the question of the quality of work. Putting together and crafting an album to be able to release a collection of songs is a ton of work and even then, it may not be well received. But albums that end up being award winning or even fan favorites take time and effort, so who are we to rush that? I think that a perfect example of quality work taking time is Adele. Adele is known for putting out incredible albums, maybe doing a tour, and then disappearing for a few years. No one is really expecting her to put out a single every few months, or even put out a yearly album. However, many artists, especially up and coming, don't have the privilege of being as established as someone like Adele where they don't have to make efforts to stay relevant. So for these up and coming artists, it seems that their only hope at success in their music is to just consistently put out music and hope fans are still liking it, which most likely leads to a severe case of burnout before they really even get started in their career. Plus, as these newer artists work to put out music often, they are probably put in a position to not spend as much time on each individual song in order to really craft a masterpiece, which then leads to a lower chance of them gaining newer fans due to the decreased quality of their work. Even though I am not an artist myself, just thinking of that scenario makes me stressed out and overwhelmed.

So because of these impossible expectations that are put on artists in the world of social media, we end up with quite a bit of low quality songs that trend for a month and are soon forgotten about, as opposed to those songs that resonate with us and continue to hold a place on our favorite playlists. Now I am not saying that all music these days is soulless and just trendy junk, but I do think that the environment we have created within social media expectations tends to favor those quick cash grabs and doesn't leave creative time and space for those really high quality types of songs.

My main reason for wanting to write about this is to actually have a conversation surrounding these expectations of social media and maybe even find a solution for artists to be able to break out of those expectations. I truly fear that if we allow social media to pressure artists the way it is, we are going to miss out on real and genuine music because people are either too burnt out before they even start or they simply don't want to play into the constant need for content trap. As music lovers, we need to find a way to cherish and value those artists that are making music we love and be understanding when we feel like they aren't releasing enough music or as frequently as we like. Quality art cannot be rushed or mass produced and I think society needs to step back and really accept that.

Let me know what you think of these pressures and expectations put on artists. I'd love to indulge in conversation about this!

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Let's Talk About Social Media's Pressure and Expectations of Artists - Music Mil

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Social media has provided endless opportunities for up and coming artists to have a place to share their work and even further their career. However, social media has some downsides that can be detrimental to the creative process and quality of work.

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"overwhelming amount of pressure on artists to remain relevant on social media"

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Social media pressures artists to prioritize popularity at the cost of quality

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Scrolling through my For You page, hundreds of posts and videos flood my vision: Ariana Grande’s new album dropping this Friday. Taylor Swift releasing her 11th album. Beyoncé back in the studio. Billie Eilish teasing new tracks. The excitement should feel electric and exhilarating like it used to before the troublesome pandemic, but the rush of anticipation that once skated up my arms is replaced by a feeling of boredom.

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"Amy Winehouse knew she was seriously alcoholic but did not fully believe it was killing her"

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What Amy Winehouse Taught Us About Denial and Alcoholism

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Amy Winehouse did go to rehab, and never wanted to drink again, but denial and pride kept her from getting the help she needed.

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Record labels need to treat their artists as valuable employees with a livable wage and health insurance and protection

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Wait Chappell, Do Artists Really Not Have Health Insurance?

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Do artists not have health insurance? After Chappell Roan’s speech at the Grammys, we asked experts to weigh in on the topic.

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The Inequalities of Digital Music Streaming

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The Inequalities of Digital Music Streaming

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Artists on average are paid less than one-tenth of a cent per stream on Spotify.

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The Inequalities of Digital Music Streaming | The Regulatory Review

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Despite increased attention and revenue, the music streaming industry remains largely unregulated.

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musicians are opening up about the pressures of maintaining an online presence

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The run-up to an album release is all about teasing and pleasing the fans: thrilling videos, the promise of a fantasy-fulfilling collaboration, the drip-fed unveiling of a musician's new era. But earlier this month, the British pop star Charli XCX said she was stepping back from Twitter after receiving negative comments from fans about the campaign for her forthcoming album, Crash.

"I have been feeling like I can't do anything right at the moment," she said. "I've noticed lately that a few people seem quite angry at me - for the choices of songs I've chosen to release, for the way I've decided to roll out my campaign, for the things I need to do to fund what will be the greatest tour I've ever done. I've been grappling with my mental health the past few months and obviously it makes negativity and criticism harder to handle."

For now, she said, she would draft tweets for her team to post on her behalf, "because I can't really handle it here right now".

Charli XCX (born Charlotte Aitchison) isn't the only major pop star to retreat from social media: Billie Eilish abandoned Twitter to preserve her mental health; the US indie star Mitski deleted her accounts after the conclusion of her 2019 tour. The problem hits musicians in a unique way. Actors are not expected to self-promote to the same extent and often eschew social media; writers generally don't have such large followings nor the parasocial relationships that come with them.

But stepping away isn't an option for every musician experiencing digital burnout - especially after the lack of gigs and in-person promotional opportunities diminished during the pandemic, increasing the pressure on artists to constantly share updates on their work online.

Darren Hemmings is a marketing manager who works with acts including Run the Jewels, Wolf Alice and Jungle. "There was a weird logic that became perpetuated as fact: you're not on tour so you've got plenty of time to be all over everything. There are examples where that was a terrific move for some people but telling artists who have been around a long time that they need to be doing more when, in reality, they've got less to say because they're not doing anything, leads to this 'always on' mentality that I think is pretty unhealthy."

As XCX noted, social media isn't exactly a haven for kindness and positivity. And it's not just negative comments that can make it difficult for musicians. The expectation to constantly put on a happy face can be "draining" says German singer-songwriter Au/Ra, who says she pressurises herself to keep up with the online world. "It is something I judge myself for, it's a guilt pattern and a comparison thing to other social media accounts."

Sara Quin of Canadian pop duo Tegan and Sara says she derives "0% pleasure" from the Google Doc containing the band's social media calendar: "Myspace or Facebook posts used to be an add-on but now it feels like making music is about making assets for social media."

'We like our words and our ideas and our stories have value' ... Tegan and Sara. Photograph: Trevor Brady

Yet when the duo were searching for a new record label, they repeatedly encountered expectations that they should have a widespread and active online presence. "We're always looking for new revenue streams and opportunities because we're not touring and I hate to admit it, but our social media reach dictates everything for a band like us," says Quin. "Our online metrics equate to how much a record company will give us for a record or how much [US festival] Coachella will give us to play Saturday at 3pm."

The two years of the pandemic also correspond with the rise of TikTok as a key platform for music discovery and promotion: new acts including UK producer PinkPantheress and Brit award-nominated UK singer songwriter Mimi Webb first found an audience there. So did US country artist Priscilla Block, who got her start by posting original content and music five times a day or more, according to her co-manager, Crystal Block. Within a few months of putting all her spare time into the app, she released a song, Just About Over You, which was funded by fans through a campaign on TikTok. The track went viral, landing at No 1 on iTunes's all-genre chart, and helped her secure a record deal. Block just released her debut album, Welcome to the Block Party, but the work doesn't stop there. Now, says Crystal, "there is always that pressure to make everything new go viral".

That potential to reach new listeners has record labels pressurising artists to add another social media platform to an already overflowing plate that typically includes Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Even Adele, who had the biggest-selling album of 2021, isn't immune: in an interview with Zane Lowe, she recalled a meeting where someone at her label suggested that she got on TikTok to ensure 14-year-olds knew who she was.

Beyond the few examples of acts whose social media presence has paid obvious dividends, Hemmings questions whether all the time and effort musicians spend on social media is worth it. Due to limited reach, not every post will be seen by their audience, unless it's a paid-for advert. "You see a lot of artists shouting into the void," he says.

Instead, Hemmings encourages those he works with to build communities on channels that create a more direct route to fans, as with pre-social media fanclubs. It's a burgeoning world: Run the Jewels have an email database; dance behemoths Chase & Status have a WhatsApp group with fans; British indie artist Bat for Lashes established a Patreon offering exclusive content.

In 2020, Sheffield metalcore band While She Sleeps also started their own fan membership platform on Patreon, Sleeps Society. It has about 1,500 members. "It doesn't sound like a huge amount of people but it makes enough money to keep the band afloat," says guitarist Mat Welsh.

'It makes enough money to keep the band afloat' ... Mat Welsh (far right) of While She Sleeps. Photograph: Marcia Richards

In January, Tegan and Sara launched a Substack newsletter offering in-depth insight into their creative process, which has more than 6,000 subscribers and a paid-for tier priced at $6 (£4.40) a month. "Substack is us unselfconsciously saying, 'We like our words and our ideas and our stories have value'," says Quin. "So much of what social media feels like is that we work for those companies, like Spotify, Instagram and Facebook, and don't necessarily feel any benefit. It feels like I'm always just supplying more content for the food chain."

Still, these alternatives aren't wholesale replacements for social media. "I want to find people where they are," says Quin. "I'm not trying to siphon them all into one place, but I'm never going to lie and tell you that I like social media. I hate it but I will do it because I don't want people to miss out."

Welsh agrees: "Sleeps Society and social media are complementary for us. Our social channels are there for casual fans who want to engage on and off but the community is for those who would consider us 'their' band."

Despite the emerging alternatives available, the catch-22 remains for artists trying to have a healthier relationship to the internet while also promoting their work in an ever-more competitive field.

"Fans are intelligent people who can immediately see through artists spending time trying to do it all or having an impact just because they feel they need to be," says Sophie Kennard, manager of Chase & Status. "The moment that it feels a bit disingenuous, it's game over anyway. So they might as well utilise their time elsewhere."

Ultimately, despite all the pitfalls of social media, there may be no going back. "Sometimes I wish the electrical grid would go down so I wouldn't have to do it any more," says Quin. "But we're in the maze and I don't know how to get out."

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'Making music is about making assets for social media': pop stars battle digital burnout

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After Charli XCX left social media citing unkindness from fans, musicians are opening up about the pressures of maintaining an online presence

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Musicians suffer from addiction and mental-health issues at an alarming rate

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In 2009, Anders Osborne found himself at rock bottom. He was bankrupt, his house was in foreclosure, his wife had kicked him out, and he couldn't see his two young kids. His livelihood was playing gigs, but he couldn't even do that - he'd often show up too drunk or high to perform. "For close to a year, I'd [either] try to find a friend's couch to sleep on [or] I lived in the park," says Osborne, a New Orleans-based singer-songwriter who's collaborated with everyone from Phil Lesh to Tim McGraw. "I ruined everything."

Osborne, then 42, was eight years into his latest struggle with substance abuse and mental illness, which manifested in psychotic episodes and hallucinations. "The bipolar tendencies, like staying up for days and days, flourished in my addiction," he says. "I'd make these dramatic changes from, like, Tuesday night to Wednesday morning, and before you know it, I'm hitchhiking somewhere in the middle of nowhere."

Osborne's story isn't new. Every generation has its share of musicians - from Charlie Parker and Janis Joplin to Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse - who've battled addiction and mental illness. (The two are closely linked; according to national data, about half of people who suffer from mental illness will also experience substance abuse during their lives.)

Lately, it's become clear that the number of artists suffering is staggeringly high. In a 2018 study from the Music Industry Research Association, 50 percent of musicians reported battling symptoms of depression, compared with less than 25 percent of the general adult population. Nearly 12 percent reported having suicidal thoughts - nearly four times the general population. According to a 2019 study published by Swedish digital-distribution platform Record Union, the numbers are even starker: It found that 73 percent of independent musicians have battled stress, anxiety, and depression.

As album sales continue to fall and record labels and digital distributors gobble up the majority of streaming revenue, artists essentially have no choice but to tour more and more. "We've hit a tipping point where the people who work in our industry - artists as well as crew - are commodities," says Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman, a professor at the University of Southern California's music school and a longtime mental-health advocate. "People are working twice as hard to stay in the same spot they used to. The pressures are ratcheted up."

Aside from financial instability, all kinds of stressors accompany this literal gig economy: loneliness; being surrounded by drugs and alcohol; strain on relationships; poor sleeping and eating habits; lack of access to quality health insurance and care, and so on. "Creatives in the industry today suffer more because their routines are so destabilized," says Dr. Chayim Newman, a Toronto-based clinical psychologist whose private practice focuses on performers and touring artists. "The intense, long hours on the road or in the studio create a challenge in maintaining health routines and healthy relationship routines." Or, as Osborne puts it, "it's the perfect collision" for a breakdown.

While top-tier musicians aren't immune to these problems, they tend not to be the ones hardest hit, at least when it comes to financial and health-care issues. "For every artist that stands onstage, there are 10 to 100 crew members invisible to the public who make that performance, tour, or album run," says Newman. "Those crew members all burn out in the same way [as the artist]."

There may even be neurological reasons why so many artists struggle with mental health. "Centers in the limbic system that control negative emotion tend to be more heavily [located] in the right side of the brain," says Newman. Translation: "Right-brained" people - like artists, who can more easily tap into their feelings - "tend to have dominance in the side of the brain that creates more negative emotions," he says. "We might even say there's a predisposition for [that]."

What's more, performing can throw an artist's bodily systems out of whack. "With the pressure and rush of the stage, artists are in this ramped-up sympathetic-activation mode," says Newman. "It almost looks like the equivalent of a panic state, except it's being induced by voluntary circumstances."

In the past few years, these problems have played out in striking and tragic terms. In 2019 alone, Silver Jews' David Berman, guitarist Neal Casal, Yonder Mountain String Band founder Jeff Austin, and Prodigy singer Keith Flint all died by suicide. In the two years prior, rapper Mac Miller suffered an accidental drug overdose, and superstar DJ Avicii, Soundgarden's Chris Cornell and Linkin Park's Chester Bennington all died by suicide.

Now, the music industry is taking action like never before to address the growing mental-health crisis. There are new initiatives popping up from both corporate giants and grassroots organizations; festivals and benefits being planned to raise awareness of mental health; and efforts by record labels and artists to destigmatize mental illness. Musicians from Bruce Springsteen and Justin Bieber to Lizzo and Demi Lovato are increasingly opening up about their own mental-health struggles.

The idea of providing support to artists has been around for decades - the Recording Academy launched MusiCares to lend medical and financial help back in 1989 - but recently, the number of resources for musicians in need exploded. "We've lost so many artists that [industry leaders] are finally paying attention," says Lyman. "They're realizing, 'We can't have all our artists die.' "

Hilary Gleason was friends with both Austin, who died in June, and Casal, who died two months later. "Both were seemingly doing really well in their careers and playing these huge shows," she says. "It's a silent killer." Gleason is the CEO of Level, a consulting firm that connects bands with nonprofits. The day after Casal died, her phone started blowing up with calls from despondent friends and clients. "They said, 'This is so messed up,' " she recalls. "'What are we going to do?' "

Her answer: Organize a conference call with what she calls the "music-industry mental-health task force," more than 40 music-industry vets, including promoter Pete Shapiro, plus musicians, tour managers, and crew members. "We had a conversation around, 'Let's see what initiatives are out there and what the gaps are and where we can throw our support behind,'" says Gleason. "All of us in music understand that it's both the best thing that ever happened to us and the hardest life we could've signed up for."

Out of that call grew Backline, an organization dedicated to connecting musicians and anyone in their orbit - from roadies and sound engineers to agents and family members - with mental-health resources. (Newman is on the clinical advisory team.) Gleason announced the initiative in early October; 70 submissions came in that month. "We've had agents and managers say, 'I'm experiencing so much anxiety because of my never-ending email inbox and booking for [all these] bands, and I think it should all be great, but I feel this crushing weight,' " she says.

Backline acts as a clearinghouse for long-running mental-health resources like MusiCares, Sweet Relief Musicians Fund (founded in 1993 to help artists pay for living expenses), and HAAM (which has been helping Austin-based musicians access affordable health care for 15 years). "There was no central hub for all these places to coexist," says Backline's clinical director, Zack Borer, a licensed therapist and musician himself. "We're trying to bring all the existing organizations out of their silos, where people can see all the things happening."

Backline's case managers have a one-on-one conversation with everyone who submits a form on its website, then pairs individuals with the appropriate resources - be it a therapist, life coach, support group, or AA meeting. Backline's services are free. "The discourse around mental health is changing," says Borer. "It's not just sex, drugs, and rock & roll anymore. It's how sex, drugs, and rock & roll can have a long-term impact."

Live Nation announced it was backing a new nonprofit called Aside from Backline, a slew of music-focused initiatives launched in the fall. On October 10th - World Mental Health Day - Tour Support, which gives artists, crew members, and vendors on a given tour 24/7 access to a therapist via phone or online. (Vicky Cornell, Chris' widow, is a partner, and artists from John Legend to My Morning Jacket have endorsed the organization.) Live Nation also recently funded an industry guide to mental-health best practices published by the Music Industry Therapist Collective. "With more artists touring than ever before, it's increasingly important to consider the challenges that artists, crews, and vendors face while on the road for long periods of time," says Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino. "It's inspiring to see major industry players step up to tackle some of those issues."

Trade associations and performance-rights organizations also joined the cause . In October, the Association for Electronic Music released a mental-health guide for people working in the electronic-music industry. It explains how to identify conditions like depression, burnout, and imposter syndrome, and goes deep on coping strategies for managers and artists, who tend to tour heavily.

In December, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) debuted a wellness program called TuneUp in response to a survey that found musicians are 31 percent more likely than the general population to say their health and wellness majorly impact their careers. ASCAP will launch recovery-support groups in several cities and online, plus offer discounts to its 725,000 members on fitness, nutrition, and mindfulness services. (First up in 2020: a group meditation in New York.)

At least one record label has caught on to the shift. Last February, Toronto-based indie Royal Mountain Records announced that every act on its roster would get a $1,500 stipend for mental-health-related services. Borer has seen a jump in the number of inquiries from managers and label executives looking to provide support to their artists, but would like to see more from major labels. "With every additional death or overdose, the industry is being confronted with the growing problem of depression and anxiety within the business," says Borer. "Ultimately, it depends on whether they want to invest in providing clinical support."

Artists are also doing their part to destigmatize mental illness. There are many examples, but in 2019 alone, Sully Erna of Godsmack debuted the Scars Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to mental-health education; veteran jam band Widespread Panic held a ticket raffle that brought in $100,000 for a suicide-prevention organization called Nuci's Space; and Billie Eilish starred in a PSA to share her battles with depression and urge those who are struggling to ask for help.

On the event side, multiple festivals designed to raise awareness of mental-health issues are in the works. On May 9th in Los Angeles, Lyman is producing 320 Fest, an event he created with Talinda Bennington, Chester's widow. (Touring giant AEG and Warner Records are also partners.) It will feature free daytime performances by musicians and comedians (the lineup is TBD) and panel discussions - including one moderated by Bennington - on mental health and addiction. The festival will culminate in a benefit concert at the Microsoft Theater. No acts have been confirmed as of press time, but the talent will be "A-List," Lyman says. "I believe if people have a good time they're more willing to learn."

In New York, plans are underway for Sound Min d, a mental-health benefit concert that debuted last year in Brooklyn. Passion Pit and Aimee Mann are in talks to appear. There's also Recovery Fest in Nashville, an event dedicated to increasing attention around mental illness and addiction, slated for fall 2020. "The more we talk about mental health, the more normal it is," says Gleason. "Increasing transparency can lead to more willingness to get help. It's a tide that needed to come in."

Despite the industry's new attempts to address the mental-health dilemma, Newman, the clinical psychologist, says it's only scratching the surface of what needs to be done. "Every little bit definitely counts - if a program helps prevent a single suicide, it was an unmitigated success," he says. "But what often happens in cases like this is as soon as there's an awakening around an issue, it's like, 'Let's find a Band-Aid.' But the goal isn't to provide solutions - it's to provide solutions that work."

I n a few weeks, Newman is launching his own initiative: TourHealth.org, the first-ever major research study on mental health in the touring industry. The goal is to gather data on the mental-health problems that artists and crew members face (the survey will be sent to about 10,000 industry members worldwide) and use it for scientific research on the most effective interventions. "The only way to provide solutions that work is that everything has to be empirically based," says Newman. "We're trying to get to the roots of the key issues that pop up, and then we can begin to test and develop solutions. If we make sure people get the right care, I think there can be a major impact."

In the meantime, Newman says he's hopeful companies like Live Nation can usher in industrywide changes on the mental-health front. (He'd like to see tour routes plotted with more breaks, and venues and festivals designed to be more "nurturing" to the mental-health needs of artists and crew members.) "We're just starting to understand what the issues are," he says. "We're just at the beginning of being able to get our finger into the dam to stem the flood."

Osborne, for one, is doing his part to hold back the surge. A decade ago, when his life was falling apart, a few musician friends - among them Dr. John and Ivan Neville - coordinated with MusiCares to arrange a bed for him at a California rehab center. "That's when the new chapter started," Osborne says, adding that he got his house back, he's reunited with his wife, and his career is back on track. (He released his latest album, Buddha & the Blues , in 2019.) This month, he'll celebrate 11 years of sobriety.

Osborne decided to pay his good fortune forward, in 2017 starting a nonprofit called Send Me a Friend. The organization, which supplies sober buddies to recovering artists on tour, has a network of 3,500 volunteers in 50 states, and has helped more than 100 musicians since it launched. ("Friends" are recovering addicts too - they must have at least one year of sobriety under their belts to participate.)

Osborne was inspired to start SMAF after going back to work in the early days of sobriety. "You come back from the total bottom and you're supposed to be sharp enough to do a gig where everyone is drinking and doing drugs," he says. With his program, artists (or crew members, or managers, or anyone who has a role in the music world) would have a hand on tour. "You're accountable for those two to four hours," says Osborne. "You have a space that feels safe and solid."

He says that if an organization like his had been around when he was struggling, he would have gotten help sooner. "If there would've been less tip-toeing and avoidance, and people were straight-up understanding" of mental illness and substance abuse, he says, things may have been different.

But thanks to the efforts of Osborne and others like him, artists today have a better shot at avoiding the live-fast-die-young cliche that's plagued so many before them. "Layne Staley, Scott Weiland, Chris Cornell ... we lost so many people," says Lyman, who worked with the frontmen of Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, and Soundgarden, respectively, as a stage manager for Lollapalooza in the early 1990s. (Staley and Weiland both died after accidental drug overdoses.) "That whole era of our legacy bands is gone. We can't lose another generation."

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'We Can't Have All Our Artists Die': How the Music Industry Is Fighting the Mental-Health Crisis

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In 2009, Anders Osborne found himself at rock bottom. He was bankrupt, his house was in foreclosure, his wife had kicked him out, and he couldn't see his two young kids. His livelihood was playing gigs, but he couldn't even do that - he'd often show up too drunk or high to perform.

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"Listening to music, any music, engages our brains.. different parts of the brain interact with music and create our physiological experience of it, from the auditory cortex"

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Recently I realized that while I often say that I love listening to music, what I really mean is that I like a playlist of about fifty songs, and that's it. While there's nothing wrong with the comforting chords I tend to surround myself with, there's a whole world of music out there. As a fun challenge, I decided to broaden my musical horizons and listen to anything and everything, including entire genres I had previously dismissed because I "didn't like them"-and I was wowed by what I learned.

There are certainly social benefits to becoming a more diverse connoisseur of music; for example, you'll be very well prepared to recommend music to other people and better able to select suitable music for any occasion. I was, however, particularly fascinated to find that different types of music meet our brains in different ways.

As it turns out, listening to a diverse array of music doesn't just help us broaden our tastes; each genre has unique benefits to offer.
Music and the brain
Listening to music, any music, engages our brains. Different parts of the brain interact with music and create our physiological experience of it, from the auditory cortex, which first works to break down what we're hearing in terms of pitch and volume, to the amygdala, which processes emotions, and the mesolimbic system, which deals with pleasure response and neurotransmitters like dopamine. Our memory centers and motor systems also get in on the groove: MRI scans of people listening to music show significant activity in those areas when specific songs were played, indicating the strong link between music and memory and (very simply) the urge to dance when our jam is played. One study found that listening to music can even alter visual perception -meaning that what you listen to and how it makes you feel may actually impact how you see and navigate the world.

Furthermore, different genres of music affect the brain in different ways-causing differing cascades of hormones, triggering different neurons to fire, calling up specific sets of memories and giving rise to disparate wells of emotion.

Patrick Wong, a researcher at Northwestern University, has coined a term- bimusicality -to describe an innate comfortableness with music from more than one culture (like Western music, Indian, Latin, etc). In a recent study, he found that "if you are bimusical, you tend to engage a larger network of the brain when you listen to the two kinds of music." According to Wong's research, the ability to listen to music from different cultures and only feel a low-degree of "tension" indicates the brain is utilizing not only the auditory area, but also perhaps needs the emotional areas of the brain more, too.

This research has me thinking-are we using different parts of our brain when we're listening to different genres of music (pop, rap, classical, etc)? Here's some of the evidence I've found.

Pop

One study I found indicates that popular music is associated with higher levels of endurance and spurts of energy, possibly because of its usual upbeat personality. This makes it an excellent choice for your workout playlists-it may literally help you run the extra mile. However, I like to think that there's a secondary benefit to taking in pop music. As a genre defined by the fact that everyone's tuning in, pop music can serve as a means of connection for us all-the accessibility of the lyrics and the unforgettableness of its melodies can give even strangers something in common to discuss.

Good places to get started: Word of mouth, local radio, Spotify's "New Music Friday" playlist

Rap

The stories told through rap songs are often ones of hard work and personal transformation, which has led many to believe that listening to rap and hip-hop can help those experiencing depression. According to research from Cambridge University's department of psychology, rap music, "with its rags-to-riches narrative trajectories, displays 'positive visual imagery,' a psychotherapeutic technique common among sports stars, in which one envisages the place where one would like to be, so as to facilitate one's progression to a better mental place."

Additionally, because of the intricate beats and often intense word counts, relative to other genres of music, rap songs often include incredibly clever wordplay-which can make the genre a great creative resource for poets and authors.

Good places to get started: I will never not recommend the Hamilton soundtrack-yes, I know this isn't a new idea! However, in addition to being a Broadway sensation, Hamilton was the #1 Billboard rap album in its own right shortly after its debut. It's got hip-hop, it's got jazz, it's got rap-and it's eminently accessible, making it a great gateway to enjoying genres of music that you might not have previously turned to. I've also enjoyed following its creator Lin-Manuel Miranda's inspiration for similar sparkling, witty turns of phrase-artists such as Big Pun, Biggie, and Lauryn Hill laid a lot of the groundwork for Hamilton.

Classical

The classical genre is a wide field which contains in itself an incredible spectrum of music. Its pieces may sometimes suggest a sense of calm but often can evoke the complete opposite. The strength of orchestral music-what we often think of as "classical"-involves telling a story, oftentimes without using words. Classical music is a genre that often suggests music from the past. And for good reasons: many of the composers who immediately come to mind when we think of classical music (Bach! Mozart! Beethoven!) lived hundreds of years ago. But classical music is also a genre thriving in modernity with composers such as Unsuk Chin and Philip Glass, continuing to compose exciting and new works. There are also applications for classical music that are very practical. We've all heard of Baby Mozart and how it's supposed to make our children smarter. That may or may not be accurate-but, studies have indicated that listening to classical music in traffic reduces road rage. (Which leads me to a tip: just set the radio in your car to your classical station, and forget it. It's mindless classiness.)

Good places to get started: Verily has a few classical playlists for you: Focused Classical, An Hour with Debussy, An Hour with Daniel Hope; your local classical radio station; The Piano Guys playlist and "Peaceful Piano" playlist on Spotify are favorites of mine, along with John Williams for favorite movie soundtracks. I also love Spotify's "Classical Romance" playlist!

Jazz

This genre of music (for a while) was relegated to elevator music, but it could be experiencing a resurgence in popularity. This is good news for your brain as music with a more mellow tempo (of about 60 bpm) is associated with a feeling of calmness and relaxation. Many classic jazz songs run at that more relaxing clip, providing a great incentive to slow down and take a journey through popular songs of the past.

Good places to get started: The La La Land soundtrack-particularly, the slower songs-for a modern bridge to the genre; and then on to the classics, such as Miles Davis (a good example would be his song "Kind of Blue") and Ella Fitzgerald (start with "Shiny Stockings" or "Basin Street Blues"). Here's a playlist to listen to first!

Metal

This genre of music-which includes screamo, punk, and other extreme styles of singing-often gets a bad rap, but studies have shown that listening to this music is associated with enhanced positive emotions.

Good places to get started: metal isn't a genre of music that I am very familiar with-so I began with learning a bit about its history and searched for a few best-of lists for beginners. Ultimately, Spotify's "Old School Metal" playlist has you covered if you're curious to learn more!

The next time you're looking to listen to music or you're in need of a mood shift, select your musical ambiance with a bit more intention. When you open yourself up to a world of diverse music, and when you are listening for things other than quick, catchy enjoyment, you open yourself up to a dizzying array of options to really help set a mood. With an expanded library of music to choose from, you can decide if you want your morning to be upbeat or moody; you can decide if you want your next party to lean classy or casual. Appreciating a wide selection of music gives you more options as well as exercising your brain. Let's make a point of making our musical diet as healthy and varied as the wide world around us-we may all just be a little happier for it.

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The Brain Science of Listening to a Diverse Array of Music

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Recently I realized that while I often say that I love listening to music, what I really mean is that I like a playlist of about fifty songs, and that's it. While there's nothing wrong with the comforting chords I tend to surround myself with, there's a whole world of music out there.

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The Effects Of Music Genres On The Human Brain

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The Effects Of Music Genres On The Human Brain

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Our brain can be divided into 4 parts - frontal lobe, temporal lobe, occipital lobe, and parietal lobe

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Medical studies have shown that rock music can help reduce stress, increase positive emotions, and even regulate mood. Rock music can act as an effective tool in stress management by increasing the production rate of dopamine, effectively reducing levels of stress hormones.

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Rock and Roll: Important Benefits Anyone Can Profit From | School of Rock

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Rock and roll and the important benefits that come with it may surprise you. Read this and other rock and roll facts and guides at School of Rock now.

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Rock Music Increases the Happy Hormone, Oxytocin

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If you have ever wondered why your favourite rock records leave you feeling so psyched, the answer lies within the neural impulses that fire whenever we hit pla

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If you're a classical music devotee, you already know that the musical stylings of Beethoven, Vivaldi or Bach can transport you to another realm. For others, these masterpieces come just as a mere tune played in the doctor's waiting room. Regardless of how you feel about classical music, research shows that classical music can affect the brain in a variety of positive ways, from boosting memory to aiding relaxation.

Brainpower and cognitive function

If they say that music is 'food for the soul', then classical compositions are omega-3, antioxidants and a pinch of caffeine. During a 1993 control group, physicist and University of California Professor Dr Gordon Shaw saw a spike in IQ in his college students after listening to Mozart. Labelled the 'Mozart Effect,' the study garnered a lot of scepticism and doubt from experts. Whilst the findings weren't specifically linked to an answer in raised IQs, Dr Shaw believed that listening to Mozart could be useful to warm up parts of the brain that relate to abstract thought.

Echoing this, a study by Dr Kevin Labar says that music does have the power to improve intellectual performance and cognitive function, but not by raising the IQ. What actually happens is that the calming effect induced by classical music releases dopamine to spike pleasure. The dopamine also prevents the release of stress hormones. From here, mood is improved, which therefore clarifies thinking - making tasks like essay writing and studying a lot more enjoyable.

Relaxation and reduced stress

If you're feeling stressed from work, school or everyday life - then sit back, close your eyes, and play Bach's Twelve Little Preludes on the stereo. Why? Because classical music is intrinsically linked to reducing stress. A 2018 study on the effect of different types of music on patients' preoperative anxiety shows that classical music can cause the heart rate and breathing to slow, and emotional distress to decrease. Classical music also lowers cortisol levels in the brain that can help lessen anxiety and lower blood pressure.

Next time your children are driving you up the wall, play some Chopin to not only soothe yourself, but to soothe them too.

Improved memory

Keep forgetting where you put your keys? Try listening to some classical music. A study from the Department of Medical Genetics, the University of Helsinki, Finland, shows that listening to just 20 minutes of classical music a day can modulate the genes responsible for brain function and memory. During the study, participants who listened to classical music were more likely to be positively affected. The research team noted an increase in dopamine secretion, synaptic function and the genes associated with learning and memory. This also included the gene synuclein-alpha (SNCA), which is often linked to how birds learn their song, suggesting the evolutionary background of sound perception and memory.

In this same study, classical music down-regulated genes associated with neurodegenerative diseases. A happy brain is a healthy brain, and classical music - especially that that evokes positive memories - can increase dopamine and neuroconnectivity in the system, slowing down the ageing process.

Assisted sleep

Finding sleep a struggle? Insomniacs, rejoice; there's now an alternative to sleeping pills. A 2008 study by the Institute of Behavioural Science at Semmelweis University, Budapest, found that classical music induced a deep sleep in students struggling with sleep disorders - all because the music playing reduced sympathetic nervous system activity, decreased anxiety and lowered the blood pressure of participants, helping the participants drift off to sleep.

So why do classical tunes lull us into the land of nod, rather than pop or punk rock? Songs with an upbeat tempo and words can cause the brain to multitask and become overwhelmed. The slow tempo, tranquil melody and soothing rhythm of classical music makes it the perfect antidote to insomnia and helps the body properly prepare for sleep.

Relish in Symphony Central Coast

It's clear that classical music can have a positive effect not only on the brain, but the whole body too. Its ability to lower blood pressure, decrease anxiety and even reduce pain is enough reason to create a new classical playlist on Spotify. Listening to classical music is something we should relish in every day. However, nothing beats the real thing.

If you're a Central Coast local, or you're just an orchestral fan in general, then you can't miss the next performance by Symphony Central Coast. Formed in 1999 with support from the Central Coast Conservatorium of Music, Symphony Central Coast is one of the largest regional community orchestras in NSW. Led by multi-talented composer, Dr Steven Stanke, the orchestra is comprised of some of the most dedicated and skilled local musicians in the region.

'Blues, Reviews and Avenues' with Bernstein - Symphonic Dances from West Side Story and Ravel - Piano Concerto in G, Soloist - Gareth Szakos, will be on Sunday 1 December at the Performing Arts Centre at Central Coast Grammar School. For tickets, go to www.symphonycentralcoast.com.au or call 4365 8497.

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The effects of classical music on the brain

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If you're a classical music devotee, you already know that the musical stylings of Beethoven, Vivaldi or Bach can transport you to another realm. For others, these masterpieces come just as a mere tune played in the doctor's waiting room.