Deezer study reveals recommended daily music diet

The study used more than 7 500 people to analyse how different music styles affect their mental and physical well-being. It suggests that a balanced music diet should include 14 minutes of uplifting music to feel happy, which amounts to 18% of your musical recommended daily allowance (RDA), and 15 minutes of motivating music to aid concentration (19% of your music RDA).

To complete the 78 minutes needed for emotional stability, listeners would also require an additional 16 minutes of calming music to relax (20.5% of your music RDA), 16 minutes of reflective music to overcome sadness (20.5% of your music RDA) and 17 minutes of powerful music to deal with anger management (22% of your music RDA) per day. The choice of songs is entirely up to the listener.

“Music influences our lives and at Deezer we try to understand and embrace the relationship that people have with their favourite tunes,” Deezer vice-president of content and productions Frederic Antelme said.

“Now we’ve been able to go even deeper into that relationship and see how people use music to manage different mental states. It’s a fascinating study. The results offer an idea for how music can be used to manage our emotional and mental health on a daily basis, especially when you have a wide library at your fingertips.”

The study found that it takes 11 minutes on average for the therapeutic benefits of music to kick in but only five minutes to feel happier.

Participants were reported to feel more satisfied with life (86%), having more energy (89%) and laughing more (65%) after listening to ‘feel-good’ songs.

“There are certain properties of music that affect the mind and body,” British Academy of Sound Therapy Lyz Cooper said. “Dedicating time each day to listen to music that triggers different emotions can have a hugely beneficial impact on our well-being.

“Listening to happy songs increases blood flow to areas of the brain associated with reward, and decreases flow to the amygdala, the part of the brain associated with fear.”

Pop was found to be the most effective genre in inducing happiness and, ironically, ‘Happy’ by Pharrell Williams is the most popular song to listen to. Classical created a state of relaxation for 28% of the participants and rock was found effective in bringing 18% to calm.

Some differences in preference depended on genetic make-up. A third of the participants of the study preferred fast-tempo music when feeling angry, whereas another third wanted slow-tempo music.

To coincide with the results of the study, Deezer has created five playlists here.