Helpful or Harmful? Students Explore the Relationship Between Music and Friendship

Staffillustration:SophieFang

by LIZZIE FREEHILL

Listening to music is common amongst teens and has the ability to bring them together. At the same time, listening to music is an individual activity that allows teens to tap into their emotions or feel good. So what happens when teens have different tastes in music than their friends? Do they introduce their friends to new music? Hide their music tastes? Or do they find common ground?

According to a survey conducted by The Coat of Arms, Menlo students listen to a variety of music genres with their friends. In the survey, 177 Upper School students voted on their favorite music genres. Out of these students, the most common favorite genre of music is pop at 19.8%, the second favorite is indie at 16.4% and the third favorite is hip-hop at 14.1%. Other students prefer rock, country, R&B, classical, dance and electronic, or they have no preference.

However, these numbers are different when it comes to students listening to music with friends. 61% of Menlo students said that they listen to different types of music when they are with their friends than when they are alone. An example of this is that, while indie was the favorite genre for 16.4% of individual students, only 6.8% voted it to

by SOPHIE STONE

Hosting assemblies in the gym is an important aspect of Menlo’s student life, and faculty and students alike missed the experience over the past two years due to COVID-19. Transitioning assemblies from Zoom to the quad and back to the gym has allowed Menlo to engage in more student-led activities and improved the level of inter-grade collaboration. “A lot of other schools will maybe have two assemblies per semester, and they’re

What’s Inside?

be the most popular among their friend groups.

Junior Danae Yotopoulos finds that the music she chooses to play varies depending on who is listening. “It can feel more comfortable to share new music and genres with close friends rather than sharing them in large gatherings,” Yotopoulos said. “It is important when playing a specific playlist or a specific song to kind of think about what other people will enjoy, but, at the same time, there is that kind of stigma around [what types of music you play].”

Music in Groups, pg. 10