Isn’t it amazing how sometimes you hear a portion of a song on the radio and the tune just stays in your head? You find yourself humming, tapping or just moving your head to the beat even when you’re nowhere near a radio – but you just learned a new song. That, my friends, is the power of radio – learning about new music.
Music has been known to reduce stress, improve mood and health. According to the Journal of Positive Psychology, people who listened to upbeat music could improve their moods and boost their happiness in just two weeks. More recently, a 2015 small-scale study from Greece found that listening to either classical or rock music positively impacts two important predictors of cardiovascular risk, and the length of time the music was listened to had a direct positive effect in lowering those indicators.
Radio is a social medium but radio is also a way for listeners to discover things – economic forecasts, TV programming, celebrity updates and new music. As a medium that enhances one’s mood, relaxes and serves as a companion, radio also plays an important role in music discovery.
Music discovery, or staying up to date, is important to many. According to The Infinite Dial 2016, 53% of total respondents agreed that it is “very or somewhat important” to keep up to date with music, with 62% of Hispanics and 65% of African-Americans stating the same.
According to Nielsen’s Music 360 2016 report, broadcast radio reigns as the top source to learn about new music and, in fact, 61% of the U.S. learns about new music via some form of radio. In addition, Morning Consult, a media and technology company known for its work in the political arena, released the poll results that many people listen to radio to get their music – more so than any other audio option or platform.
So the next time you need some company, want to relax, lift your mood or just escape from the stresses of everyday life, do what the majority of people do – turn to broadcast radio.