Posted by Tony Best

It’s no secret that music appeals to people all over the world and brings individuals from all walks of life together. Despite some of the challenges faced by the music industry in this digital age, the music industry is growing and, in 2014, accounted for a £4.1 billion influx into the British economy!

Have you ever wondered why we love music so much though, and what it is makes us admire our favourite musicians so much and pay to see them play and hear their albums? A Vox article I came across today addressed that very question!

A popular theory discussed in the article is that we appreciate music because it sounds similar to speech. We evolved to become attuned to speech so that we can recognise how others are feeling which, in turn, affects how we are feeling. The range of sounds available in music is much broader than in speech which means music can be particularly stimulating.

After doing a bit more research I came across a theory proposed by composer and philosopher Leonard Meyer. He suggests that appreciation of music comes from expectation and reward. Whether it’s a particular scale, a soaring chorus or a brutal breakdown, we form expectations about how pieces of music are meant to unfold, and when our expectations are met we are rewarded with a dopamine rush.  

Musicologist David Huron, however, believes that our fondness of music is more intrinsic. You might not expect a love for music to make as much evolutionary sense as a love for food but you could be wrong! Huron argues that deciphering whether a distant sound was made by a harmless animal or a dangerous predator was crucial to survival and therefore sound bypasses the ‘logical brain’ and has a direct influence on our emotions.