Not only is music fun to listen to, fun to dance to and fun to sing along with, it’s actually proven to be good for your mental and physical health.
First, there was live music, then the radio and vinyl, eight tracks, tapes, CDs and MP3 players. The ways people can enjoy music continue to evolve. If you haven’t tried them already, here are a few fun options for bringing more music into your life.
Listening Online
A number of sites allow you to type in your favorite artist or genre, and a playlist or station will be generated for you to listen to on your computer or mobile device. In most cases, basic or limited service is free, or you can upgrade for a small monthly fee. Here are a few to check out.
Spotify’s tagline is “Music for everyone.” You can choose your genre and access millions of songs. Choose stations or artists, add playlists, try out new suggestions, share music with friends, and see what others are listening to and more.
Pandora allows listeners to, as the site describes: “Just drop the name of one of your favorite songs, artists or genres into Pandora and let the Music Genome Project go. It will quickly scan its entire world of analyzed music, almost a century of popular recordings – new and old, well known and completely obscure – to find songs with interesting musical similarities to your choice.” In this way, it’s easy to discover new artists as well as hear some of your old favorites.
Rdio calls itself a “social jukebox” offering more than 20 million songs. You can pull up hits and classic albums, or choose from stations based on the genres or artists you like. You can even sync favorites to your phone to listen offline.
iTunes Radio is another streaming option offering 250 “DJ-curated” stations for Mac product users. Stations can be built on artists, songs or genres, and the more you listen, the more customized your stations become based on your selections and feedback.
Other online streaming options include Grooveshark, Jango, AOLRadio, Last.fm, Songza, Google Play Music and more.
Radio Reinvented
Radio online: If you don’t like the idea of a computer choosing your playlist and prefer a human mixing and matching live, you can also listen to the radio online. Most local stations stream live, and sites like TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Live365 and Streema Radio make it easy to find thousands of stations.
SiriusXM satellite radio allows you to listen commercial free to music and much more for a subscription fee. Subscribers can then listen online, on their smartphone or in their car.
Love to Listen
Of course, for some, nothing beats the sound of vinyl records, or better yet, live music. However you like to listen, bringing more music into your life can help alleviate stress, elevate mood and more.
Resources:
Music Benefits Both Mental and Physical Health – MedicalNewsToday.com