The Amplifying Effects of Music

Most everyone can relate to enjoying their favorite tune. Music wakes people up, gets the body moving, and inspires. Listening to music is a strategy often utilized by students to help with anxiety and depression—but have you ever wondered if music may be part of the reason these feelings occur?

“I listen to music because it is a good way to cheer me up and get me going in the day,” an MIHS student said.

Music is often the go-to response for students in all activities, emotions and goals. It is a form of entertainment that captures the audience with its sounds and meanings.

“Our world is made up of frequencies,” said cryptanalyst Skip Lancaster. “When frequencies intersect, they may cancel out or resonate. Our minds and bodies operate at different frequencies, and these may be influenced by external input. When they synchronize with this input it is called entrainment.”

Entrainment, essentially when the mind is locked into some place by a frequency, is the reason music can have such a systemic influence on teenagers’ lives. It creates a behavioral pattern that tends towards addiction. Entrainment unfortunately creates a reliance on music that may yield negative effects.

As stated by Frontiers in Psychology, “Reliance on music during episodes of psychological distress does not always have positive mental health outcomes for the young people involved … increased engagement with media includes music listening with emotional dependency on music also tending to increase periods of depression.”

“Isn’t listening to music supposed to help depression and anxiety rather than induce it?” Many students feel strongly about the positive effects of listening to music and are much less concerned about the negatives.

“Music improves my mood on a daily basis,” said one student. “It’s really hard to wake up so early and then get straight into morning practice [without music].”

“I think sometimes I rely on music as something to relate to but I don’t think it’s a bad thing,” said another student.

While the positive effects of music are the majority of students’ opinions, the negative side remains more obscured. People can become dependent on the feeling associated with music and music can subtly influence the listener.

Frontiers in Psychology notes, “Increased engagement with media includes music listening with emotional dependency on music also tending to increase periods of depression; reliance on music during episodes of psychological distress does not always have positive mental health outcomes for the young people involved.”

As with any addictive substance or behavior, it is not advised to engage with it too much. Once music becomes something one relies on, the content of the music can affect the person without their knowledge.

“Music can influence us subconsciously as well,” said Lancaster. “For example, the music you hear when you are shopping at the store is likely not as random as it may seem. Marketing and advertising industries research which music makes people more likely to spend money then recommend that to their clients.”

The music people listen to also affects their interpretations and feelings while listening. “[Music] kind of reflects my feelings, I will listen to sad music when I’m sad, upbeat music when I’m happy,” said a student.