How COVID-19 has changed our music preferences

Music is everywhere. It’s in the headphones of college students as they study for class, the lift lines at Bridger Bowl and our kitchens during late-night dance parties. Music can be used as an escape, an inspiration or a motivator. It can be used to bring people together and enhance moments that will later be fond memories.

Throughout this pandemic, individuals have been forced to change routines and lifestyles in ways that could never have been predicted at the start of 2020. Songs and listening habits have altered due to stress, less social interaction and an increase in uncertainty regarding the routine of day to day life. Maya Kemp, a freshman at MSU, stated, “My top song of 2020 was “Peach Fuzz” by Caamp. While I don’t think it was extremely influenced by the pandemic, it is a very upbeat and happy song, which is something that I think I needed throughout 2020. I generally am a very positive and social person, which made 2020 a little bit hard, so listening to happy music brought me a lot of joy this year.” We have all felt a variety of emotions throughout these unknown times, and those emotions have been found in our playlists and favorite albums.

On Monday, March 30, 2020, Spotify published an article titled “How Social Distancing Has Shifted Spotify Streaming.” In this article, they described streaming trends based on listening from March 19-25 (when most of the world population was stuck at home) and noted that, “streaming of The Police’s “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” saw more than a 135% spike in streams in recent weeks.” Spotify also observed that streaming in kids and family content increased as kids were home from school and that listeners were adding more “chill” songs to their playlists (including more acoustic and instrumental tracks).

Listening behaviors and music preferences accurately reflect the general mood of the

global society and provide a different perspective into just how much life has really changed

throughout the past year. It would be interesting for us all to look at the data on our

Spotify or Apple Music apps and see what we learn about ourselves. Every one of us has songs that are

meaningful in some way and remind us of memories, lessons learned or pain endured.

Looking back at my Spotify playlist titled, “Your Top Songs of 2020,” I noticed that my number one song this year was “Georgia” by Vance Joy, and I’m not sure whether or not I should be embarrassed by that fact. I played this song on repeat when I had to return home early from traveling abroad due to risks involving COVID-19. This song allowed me to reminisce on memories from traveling while I was stuck at home, and always made me feel a different way each time I revisited it. Looking back on this playlist made me realize that my feelings of wanderlust and confusion caused by the pandemic were significantly counteracted by the words and rhythm of my top song.

What has your life been like since March of 2020, from the lens of your top songs, artists and albums?