Is a song love at first listen, or a relationship that needs time to grow? Do we only listen to what we already know or understand? And most importantly: how much space does music really take up in our lives?
We were curious to understand better people’s music habits, people who are not us (the Musixmatch team). To explore this, we used our beloved Specialists as a representative sample. After all, you can’t really be a Specialist without loving music.
When during the day do we listen to music? If I think about my own habits, I’m almost constantly connected through my headphones. I usually listen while commuting, working out, or doing repetitive or mechanical tasks.
According to our survey, though, 57% of respondents listen to music while “relaxing at home”, followed closely (at 50%, tied) by people who listen while working or more generally “in the middle of the day.”
Editor’s note: some people answered a very honest “That’s the whole day!” And honestly…I get you.
We couldn’t avoid asking about lyrics: when do we like to read them, and how often are they in a language different from our own, or even one we don’t fully understand?
From the responses, 50% said they read lyrics “only if they like the song”, meaning when it really catches their attention (fair enough).
That said, 57% said their favorite moment to read lyrics is during the first listen.
According to 42% of respondents, it’s common to listen to songs in languages they don’t fully understand. When it comes to grasping every word of a song’s lyrics, opinions are evenly split between those who consider it “Very important” and those who find it “Somewhat important.”
This might be because music is, above all, an emotional language (as well as a language of its own). Sometimes the vibe of a track can be just as powerful as the words themselves.
That said, when we do decide to read lyrics, we don’t want to miss a single reference or hidden meaning.
According to 84% of respondents, when they don’t understand a reference or slang in a song, they actively search online to better grasp its meaning.
For 58% of respondents, when an unfamiliar artist sparks their interest during a listen, the next step is looking them up online.
The first stop? Their discography: 88% want to dive deeper into the artist’s music. But biographies and social profiles matter too. After all, when we enjoy a story, we naturally want to know who’s telling it.
This investigation started with curiosity, and it’s far from over. If you’d like to contribute, you can still join the form we created for this article and share your own music habits and perspectives. We’ll be updating this very article next month with new insights, trends, and surprises that emerge from the ongoing responses.
So if music plays a role in your day, big or small, we’d love to hear from you 🎧✨
