The Importance Of Music Essay

The Importance of Music
1. Introduction
The industry of music is known for its ever-changing and growing trend. Whether it is pop, jazz, classical or any other genre, this universal social phenomenon has something for everyone. The influence of music is ubiquitous; people listen to music when they are travelling; hear music in restaurants and cafes; music accompanies the movies and shows that people watch. (Frith, 2002) An online market research study has been conducted to find out about music habits of people, and their results have concluded that 45% of 500 music listeners listen to about ten or more hours of music per week. (Ostman, 2012) In addition, the increasing worldwide music industry revenue show that people are spending more money

Music has the power to evoke a variety of emotions; happiness to sadness, fear to peacefulness or tranquillity. Music also has the ability to produce feelings of enjoyment and euphoria in the listener. Some music even allows listeners to experience several emotions. (Chanda & Levitin, 2013) Many people often turn to music to elevate their mood. Especially when listening to a favourite song, it arouses a deep emotional response. (Schäfer, et al., 2013) For instance, according to Dr. Yana Ferguson, the study’s lead author, the study has found out that people who listened to happy and upbeat songs are able to improve their positive mood. (Towers, 2013) Many studies have been conducted to highlight the intense pleasure and dopamine release by listening to music. One such study by Valorie Salimpoor, a neuroscientist at McGill University in Montreal, associated music-induced pleasure with emotional arousal, which causes a few changes, such as the increase in breathing rate, heart rate and pulses. Participants also felt feelings of chills and shivers, an evidence that dopamine was released into the blood flow. (Sohn,