Here is all of the context you need for the title.
Blasting music in the car with friends. Spending way too much money on concert tickets. Listening to your favorite song to escape from the world around you. Becoming obsessed with a certain artist, and listening to their entire discography on repeat. How many of these things have you done? It’s likely that you did one or most of them during your teenage years—it’s well known that teenagers love music. This passion blog is even named after an album. But why?
Why do teenagers love music so much? Of course, people of all ages can enjoy music, but it’s common for people to develop their music taste during their youth, and to be captivated by it. And there are actual reasons for this!
Davida Price, a music therapist, points out that “Research shows that music affects every part of the brain, including our emotions and the brain chemicals transmitting information throughout the body,” which is the reason why music can be such a fundamental part of a teenager’s identity. Music can help a teenager discover, process, and feel their emotions; it can help define their personality and interests.
When you think about it, it makes perfect sense that teenagers are known for listening to particularly depressing or “emo” music. A person’s teenage years consist of them discovering the world around them, and it’s an extremely emotional experience. The transition from childhood to adulthood; the first loves and first heartbreaks; the melodrama. These are all very complex and moving experiences for a teenager—they are new, frightening, and confusing, especially when combined with the hormones that are usually running high in a teenager’s body. It’s logical that a teenager would turn toward music to cope with these things. On one hand, it’s a way of reassuring yourself that other people have felt these emotions, and that you’re not alone. On the other hand, it’s a way for teenagers to truly connect with some of their most intense feelings, ones that may be deemed silly, bizarre, or nonsensical by others. This could go for listening to an intense hard-rock song to let yourself feel that anger in a safe way, or listening to a love song that validates your oddly intense crush.
It’s common sense, in a way, but it’s also science. Experts have even compared teenagers listening to loud music to addiction. Listening to music is a distraction, a coping mechanism, a connection to emotions, an identity, a comfort, and a must for many teenagers. Studies have shown that listening to your favorite song releases some of the same neurotransmitters that cocaine does.
Overall, there’s some fun science behind why people in general love music, and why it affects teenagers so significantly, dealing a lot with brain development. Looking at it from a more social perspective, music can be a huge part of someone’s identity, and for an emotional and confused teenager discovering who they are, music can become a huge part of them.
not me listening to my hype playlist while doing writing this comment bc i need motivation…
as someone who has been very music-oriented their whole life, I completely understand where this is coming from. When my depression and anxiety get really bad, I use music to help me cope. I go downstairs and play the piano for a while or listen to my playlists on Spotify. In high school, I always used band as my coping mechanism. It gave me much needed serotonin and was the only thing I looked forward to during the school day. Music can really help people find their identity and who they are in the world.
i love this blog thank u for making my morning