Music Makes Lives Better Because… it can lift your mood

I’m sure we’ve all either heard (or mentioned in conversation) just how much music can influence our mood, including certain types of music having the ability to make us feel better.

Here at YY&M, we’ve heard lots of anecdotal evidence citing music as a factor in making us feel better as human beings, but rarely do we dig any deeper than a general consensus that this is the case. So we’d like to introduce you to a few articles, studies and research programmes that aim to explain the science behind music affecting our moods (see below).

Before we get into the nitty gritty, however, please feel free to take a look at our latest playlist for a few songs to lift your spirits.

Here comes the science!

Music, Emotion and Wellbeing discussed on Psychology Today https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/science-choice/201908/music-emotion-and-well-being

Research reveals the pain and pleasure of sad music https://www.dur.ac.uk/news/newsitem/?itemno=28329

Harvard Study on Music and Health https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/music-and-health

Mapping Music for Wellbeing Sheffield https://sites.google.com/sheffield.ac.uk/mappingmusicforsheffield/home

Queen’s University Study suggests that music improves your mood with age: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-48924285

And just for fun, you can (again) check out our latest playlist here: https://www.yym.org.uk/blog/sounds-like-a-good-mood

or listen to an extended Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack (Meredith Quill’s complete awesome mix) here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7hiHya2MpadR8p0vzm4HVv?si=WtIqkJDTT-aB4_skDCYLag