Music is life, so a saying goes. It is only normal that activities we involve ourselves with the most will go on to have an impact on us. Several academic studies have aimed at studying how music affects us, but a whole lot of questions still remains unanswered. But in the midst of it all, one thing holds true – Music does affect us. The effect music has is not a one-way street; it can be either positive or negative.

Youths spend a large amount of time listening to music, statistics has shown that the average youth listens to music at least for an hour every day. With this huge exposure rate comes all the effect music has, which is exactly why we need to know these effects. Broadly classified here into two:

Positive effect of music

Music has for centuries been used by people positively, the purposes include:

Therapy

Music has been used for its medicinal abilities, from the inhibition of fatigue occurrence to the normalizing of heart beat music is the effective go-to medicine. Music has also been found to help the brain cells develop better and faster too.

Productivity and creativity 

Do you really need to get a job done fast, or you have been looming on an idea and there seems to be nothing forthcoming? Playing a song can help increase your productivity and fine-tune your creativity.

Brain boost

If you are preparing for a test or have an upcoming exam, you could use music to help take your cognitive skills to the maximum. More Dopamine is released to the brain and this allows for better assimilation. Dopamine is the body feel-good hormone, so with a healthy rise of dopamine you can take on all your task.

Negative effect of music 

Music does have its negatives too. Here are some of the negative effects of music:

Music can promote violence 

Some music lyrics promote and glorify violence, music videos sometimes show musicians engaging in nefarious acts. This affects the youth and they subsequently want to perform same.

Music can promote illicit sexual behaviors

Rather than discuss the dangers of sexual activities, most songs tend to glorify and portray same. Youths who listen to such music or watch the videos are more likely than not to engage in illicit and improper sexual interactions.

Music can promote substance abuse 

Yet another vice, most songs glamorize the usage of drugs and even alcohol. The John Hopkins children center found out that alcohol is portrayed in music videos once in every fourteen minutes. And according to several other reports increased video viewing has been seen as a risk factor for the onset of substance abuse in youth.

As a result of these benefits and the associated demerits, it will be of benefit to keep tabs on the music type that youths listen to.