People prefer happy music, but it cannot be denied that sad songs are becoming trends these days. More unhappy songs are released, replacing happy music that is known to depict brightness and happiness. So, why is music becoming more and more sad over the past years?
- Music Becomes Self-Centered
As to the question of, why music is becoming more and more sad over the past years, lyrics have something to do with it. It has been found out that music lyrics become more self-centered. In the past years, music lyrics are bright, romantic, and full of life but now being more self-centered. There has been an increased use of words “I” and “me” and other anti-social words like “kill” and “hate.” This noticeable lyrics trend is more in tune with increased loneliness, mental disorders, and social isolation.
- Sad Music Becomes More Favored by Listeners
More sad music is being released because listeners are more favoring this. For some individuals, listening to music, even if it expresses negative emotions like anger or sadness, tends to be an effective means of dealing with emotions. Music can have powerful effects on one’s mood.
Happy music still exists, but sad music is being favored, especially by depressed listeners. It cannot be denied that millions of individuals are suffering from depression, and creating sad music is somehow a way for music composers and artists to reach out to them. Those who are depressed tend to choose sad music clips, and this is because they find sad music soothing, calming, and relaxing.
- Empathy
This plays a significant role in enjoying sad music. The term is broadly defined as the process by which individuals come to sense, feel, and understand what other individuals are experiencing. Expression of grief and sadness tends to rouse help and support in others. Listening to sad music similarly evokes emphatic concerns in individuals with a stronger disposition to empathy. This is perhaps one of the reasons why music is becoming more and more sad over the years.
Although music is becoming sadder over the years, individuals do not need to take this as negative entirely. Keep in mind that sadness is a healthy emotion, after all. This motivates people to think about their situations carefully and make the necessary changes to improve their lives. Even science says that at a certain point, listening to sad music can make people happier.
Unveiling the Surprising Benefits of Listening to Sad Music
Some individuals may know it, but the following are the benefits of listening to sad music:
- Mood Regulation
Sad music is known to produce psychological benefits through mood regulation. Sad music allows listeners to disengage from depressing situations like death, breakup, betrayal, and more and concentrate on the beauty of music instead.
- Vicarious Emotion
Music can generate vicarious emotions among listeners with no real life implications. Music also helps in channeling somebody’s frustration or eliminates negative emotions like sadness and anger. It is cathartic. When people listen to sad music, they are disconnected from real dangers and threats that music represents. When people cry at sad music’s beauty, they experience profound aspects of their emotional selves.
These are just a few of the many benefits that are linked with listening to sad music.
Music becoming sadder over the past years may appear to be negative, but the truth is, it’s not always bad at it seems. People have different tastes, implications, and preferences when it comes to music. A piece of sad music to one person may be a piece of happy music to another.
