WHY STUDY MUSIC HAS SUDDENLY BECOME SO POPULAR
If there's one thing that most, if not, all students can agree with, it's that finding the perfect study environment is one of the hardest things to do. I know that I've struggled with this immensely when I was in school. I've tried using my bedroom as a productive study place, but most times I try I can hear my bed calling out to me to take a nap. Local cafes and Starbucks tend to be a popular site for students to spend hours studying for big exams or writing a paper from start to finish, and I've found myself being quite productive there as well. Though another issue arises once you've found a spot where you feel comfortable you can be productive: staying productive.
With the rise in the prevalence of social media, fighting the urge to take a break from your studies to check your Facebook messages or watch a few Tiktoks can easily go from a five-minute break to a two-hour excursion. To combat this, many students will try to use music as an escape from the real world so they can immerse themselves into their studies and work. Now that this metaphorical flowchart has brought us here, it's time to ask the final question: what music should you choose to keep focused? When I first tried to add music to my studying regimen, obviously I chose music that I loved to listen to, music by my favorite artists. Though, I would learn that this kind of music wouldn't be the best because I'd get caught up singing along to the lyrics and then realizing I have no idea what I've read for the last few sentences. So I began to wonder what the best genre of music for the job would be. Enter lofi music.
Lofi music is an umbrella term for a type of music that is produced to mimic a lower sound quality, hence the "lo-" part of lofi (Lofi actually stands for low fidelity). This type of sound is characterized by a sound that contains technical flaws that make the recorded sound different from the live sound that was actually recorded. The sound could be distorted, or contain limited frequency responses. Very common characteristics in many pieces of lofi are a strong bass, simple repetitive beat that is contagious and no vocals. Based on this explanation, you might be asking yourself why exactly is this genre of music so popular? This kind of music wouldn't necessarily strike people as top-charting or even very interesting. Yet, a YouTube channel by the name of ChilledCow (rebranded to Lofi Girl after gaining a large following) has amassed over eight million subscribers with compilation videos of lofi music gaining upwards of 40 million views. This channel also has daily livestreams of lofi music playing constantly that tends to have thousands of people watching at a time.
Well, to answer that question as to why lofi is so popular: science.
According to Kevin Woods, the director of science at Brain.fm, a site that offers specific focus music tailored for different people, and who has a PhD in auditory neuroscience, good focus music must have certain features. Some of these features include no vocals, simple melodies, 'dark' spectrum, dense texture, minimal salient events (sudden differing sound effects that would change the volume) and steady pulse. If you want to get more technical, some specific sound features of good focus music include sub-30-200Hz modulation and above 10-20Hz modulation. Given some of the characteristics of lofi music that I included above (and if you've checked out Lofi Girl's videos), lofi seems to fit the bill almost to a tee. The brain has the ability to easily predict how sounds will continue on a subconscious level, and when that prediction is successfully fulfilled, it can put the brain in a calming state, according to music professor Victor Szabo. Lofi utilizes the phenomenon of "cocooning", placing the brain into a predictable and soft environment that makes it believe that it has escaped the stresses of the real world, to help you stay relaxed and in turn, focused. According to one recent survey, 86% of lofi listeners have noticed a significant increase in their productivity compared to when they don't listen to lofi.
I'll admit that even while I'm writing this post, I'm enjoying one of Lofi Girl's livestreams to help me stay focused. I've also come across some lofi music that includes soft nature sounds such as running water, rain droplets or the rustling of leaves, which I think adds to the comfort aspect of the music, as people tend to use nature sounds to relax and go to sleep. I did notice that Lofi Girl also has a lofi livestream for people trying sleep, which I might try for myself as well. For students struggling with staying consistent in their studies, or even those who are working remotely that needs something to keep them focused, I highly recommend trying lofi music. It is no wonder that lofi music has gained a huge following during the pandemic as surely people working and taking classes remotely have turned to it for help. Happy studying!