Music is really "jollifying"

For many centuries already, music has been accompanying the most emotional, special events in people's lives. But it is no longer considered to be just an art form or tradition which allows us to enjoy a certain set of sounds. It has become an effective tool in areas such as audio marketing, audio branding, neuromarketing. Its direct impact on the human brain, emotional and cognitive reactions has been actively studied, its application as one of contributing factors in various fields of activity has been researched.

Today, we would like to talk about how pleasant melodies, provoking activity in certain areas of the brain, can bring a real feeling of pleasure and joy.

In their study, Valorie Salimpoor (McGill University, Canada, "Anatomically distinct dopamine release during anticipation and experience of peak emotion to music") and colleagues, as well as Vinod Menon and Daniel Levitin (Stanford University School of Medicine, "The rewards of music listening: Response and physiological connectivity of the mesolimbic system") proved that listening to music affects the brain areas responsible for pleasure and causes dopamine release.

It turns out that we like music for the same reason which makes us to keep tasting delicious food, gambling, feeling pleasant touch and sex, greedily drinking water on a hot day, daring to new feats and achievements.

Any activity that according to the subjective perception of a person gives him a sincere enthusiasm and positive experience causes the natural release of dopamine. Our brain remembers the source of joy and after a certain period "requests" to repeat it. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter which, being an important part of the "reward system" of the brain, evokes a feeling of pleasure and satisfaction. Neurobiological experiments have shown that even memories of a reward may increase the level of dopamine which is also used by the brain for assessment and motivation. Not only can we imagine a certain pleasure, but we take actions to obtain it. So, each one of us is an owner of a sort of a "mini-factory of joy anticipation and production".

Studies have shown that music can arouse feelings of euphoria and craving, similar to tangible rewards that involve the striatal dopaminergic system. Simply put, there is a powerful endogenous dopamine release in the blood when we listen to our favorable music. Feelings that we experience when listening to music can be so pleasant that even the thought of it causes the release of the "hormone of joy and pleasure". Thus, the dopamine releases not only while actually listening to a song or a melody, but also during intervals indicating the approach of the parts we like the most.

- The notion that dopamine can be released in anticipation of an abstract reward (a series of sounds and tones) is important for the understanding why musical experiences are so valued. Our results further speak to why music can be effectively used in rituals, events, marketing or film to manipulate hedonistic states (hedonism - derives from the Greek word for "delight", "pleasure"), - Valorie says.

Music makes people happier, gives vivid emotions and, therefore, can help to make any event unforgettable. That's why our team of music editors compiled music selections for a variety of events, including season holidays. Please, watch our demo videos with music to St. Valentine's Day. On ExpertMusic online portal, you can easily create your own collection for any event using the flexible filtering system.

PS. Curiously enough that in one of the polls of Sonos company, 59% of respondents said they consider more appealing people who listen to the same music as they do. And almost 30% of respondents suspect that their partners are not sincere speaking about own musical preferences in order to look more attractive to them.

We are glad to bring joy to you and your customers,
ExpertMusic team