If the brain rewards me for listening to what I already know, why should I stretch and listen to something new I don’t?
Listening to new music can be hard. Not quite as hard as to war or space, but difficult in contrast to re-listening to the music we already are familiar with. My assumption is that most Americans (especially those post 30-year-olds who have settled into a familiar groove, just don’t listen to some new music because rent, work, and other “life” issues are demanding energy. It is a sad day when music becomes something we remember rather than something we experience.
So why should we even try listening to new music? Most of us have all the songs we could ever desire by the time we turn 30. Now with Apple Music and Spotify, we can be transported back to the happy memories of our youth in a click. Why jump off a cliff and listen to some unknown? Familiarity is like a soft bed welcoming you back to a mythical time.
The Onion (satirically) had an article in 2016, “Nation Affirms Commitment to Things They Recognize.” From celebrities, clothing brands, ideas of beauty, to music, the joke is completely self-explanatory: We love all the stuff we already know.
Our brains change when they recognize a new pattern around us, this plasticity is what makes brains useful. When hearing music, a network of auditory cortex nerves called the corticofugal network assists in cataloging the new pattern of music. When a familiar or expected sound imprints onto a known pattern, our brains release a correlating amount of dopamine, Dopamine is the primary chemical source for some of the most powerful emotions. This is the fundamental reason why music can trigger such intense emotional responses, and this is why, music, as an art form, is so tied to our deep emotional responses. Click here for more details about new pop alternative music
Most folks experience and indulge in music as a rather passive comfort, like tv or familiar slippers. In this pandemic season of isolation, dread, and fear, all music listeners are in serious need of comfort. Of all the people I talked to, the majority were listening to music that is familiar, soothing, and older.
The act of rebellious defiance found in listening to some new music while in the midst of this global pandemic is difficult but necessary. This world will keep on spinning and culture has to move with it, even though we are not moving in our homes, even if our economy goes into the toilet, even if all live shows are canceled, and there are no new release parties. Listening to new artists now is more important than ever before! I am listening to Micah Emrich’s latest release. It is blowing my mind! A smart Pop Alternative flow that tickles the familiar while stretching my brain to embrace new patterns. Expand your world and keep your brain young, so that when you leave the pandemic you don’t look like a president who has aged a decade in four years at the white house.
We are now in the most malleable/impressionable era in memory, as every day brings new, unfathomable horrible statistics. In this often incomprehensible brave new world, our brains have never been more flexible. The best argument for new music from new musicians is it helps time stamp our brains in these weird pandemic days the way you remember your first broken heart and the songs that were playing at Baskin-Robbins. Music will become your new friend who loves you and understands this weirdness. To those of you who are “risking” by getting back into discovering new music, you are not alone.
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