In With The New

For the last two post I published, I talked about why music was important to me and I talked about how it's been proven to heal. This week, I'm going to talk about different trends that are new in the subject of music today. A few trends of today’s society are YouTube, EDM, and female singers.

YouTube is the world’s most popular online music source. People use YouTube everyday to listen to music, to publish videos, to watch movies, and many other things. YouTube has been around for a while but it has never been as popular as it is today. We know this because the number of viewers and uploads are increasing everyday. The main audience for YouTube videos is teenagers and young adults.

EDM stands for “Electronic Dance Music. It’s a term that Americans use to describe the now-ubiquitous ‘hntz-hntz’ sound of commercial house.” EDM is becoming popular more and more each day. When you turn on the radio, you hear more upbeat songs such as Gangnam Style by PSY and Somebody that I used to know by Gotye. In my person opinion, this is because people, especially teenagers, are becoming more active and wanting to do more things. This upbeat music provides the perfect soundtracks for these types of feelings.

Female singers are trending also. More and more female artist are starting to develop everywhere around the world. Not only are more females entering the music career, more females are also becoming the most famous for it. Artist such as Adele, Jessie J, and Carly Rae Jepson are some among the many talented females who are earning a top spot in the music industry.

When you listen to music, you will realize that these trends will probably continue to grow and then slowly die out. Eventually, YouTube will probably be replaced, EDM won’t be as popular, and female singers may be overpowered once again by male singers or groups. But for now, these are the things in music you can expect to hear about all of the time.

More images of Adele found at, http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2011/12/01/adele_custom-aa4b2abdbcba58bc0b22807d8165fc3337b6d561-s6-c30.jpg. May 24, 2013.

Musical Medication

So last week I talked about why I like listening to music so much. For the most part, people would agree that they know a lot about music. But when it comes down to it, I don’t think they really do. Music is kind of like another world. Most people just see it as a form of entertainment. They don’t really dig deep and find the true meaning of it.

Most people don’t know that music is one of the very few activities that involves the whole brain. It works in many different ways to provide beneficial effects. One of the most surprising things about music is that it is proven to help people heal.

A lot of people don’t believe that music could heal pain. According to a paper in the latest UK-based Journal of Advanced Nursing,  “Listening to music can reduce chronic pain from a range of painful conditions, including osteoarthritis, disc problems and rheumatoid arthritis, by up to 21% and depression by up to 25%”. Music therapy is used in hospitals also. It helps reduce the amount of medication used during painful procedures such as childbirth and some minor surgeries.

There are different theories about how music helps heal. Some people believe that it helps heal because it serves as a distraction. Other believe that it gives people a sense of control, helps with relaxing of the muscles, or slows down their heartbeat and the amount of breaths they take.

In my opinion, I think music heals because it serves as a method of distraction. When you’re listening to a song, you kind of get caught up in the lyrics and it makes you think. While you are thinking, your thoughts are distracting you from the real pain. And this causes you to be more focused on the music, rather than being focused on the pain.  

Playing music by bedside, available at

http://www.laurieriley.com/images/bedside-harp.jpg, May 16th, 2013.

Welcome Blog

My name is Candice and I'm not exactly your typical teenager. I like to talk about music because it helps express feelings. I listen to most types of music. Each song has some sort of meaning behind the lyrics. Listening to music means a lot to me because it's easy to relate to. The lyrics of a song have the ability to change my mood instantly. Some songs make me happy and put me in a good mood. Others make me sad or angry. I feel like music is the only thing that's capable of doing that.

By reading my blog, you can expect to learn about my personal experiences with music and feelings I have associated with it certain genres and songs. In my blog, I may compare different types of music, how music affects the mood of a person, and many other things. Also, older music is completely different from newer music. Most of the time, I'd rather listen to older songs. I like songs that don't make it obvious what the song is originally about. This is so because if the meaning and purpose are not clear, it's easier to "make it your own". In other words, you can relate the lyrics better to certain events and topics in your own life. You can give it a personal meaning.

I listen to music as much as I can. I try to keep headphones on me all of the time so I can listen whenever I get the chance. I like to listen to music using websites or apps such as Pandora, YouTube, and Grooveshark. I listen to music in the mornings, some during school, in the car, in the shower, while cleaning or doing other work, and also when going to sleep at night.

As you read my blog, you will continue to learn about my love for music and hopefully, you'll learn things you've never realized before.

Headphone images available at: http://synthesis.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/jvc-haf120b-earbuds.jpg on May 11, 2013