Summary: Analysis of Spotify listening data by researchers at Aarhus University reveals that the music people choose for studying and the tracks they select to fall asleep to share more similarities with each other than either does with general music listening.
Source: Aarhus University
What music do you pick for study sessions, and what do you play as you drift off to sleep? A new study suggests these choices are more alike than you might expect.
Researchers at Aarhus University examined large datasets drawn from Spotify to compare music people commonly use when studying with music used to help fall asleep. Their analysis shows that study and sleep music share many musical qualities, from genre preferences to measurable audio features.
The team combined qualitative and quantitative methods to compare playlists labeled or described for studying against playlists used for sleep or relaxation. They assessed individual tracks, dominant genres, and Spotify-defined audio features to identify common patterns and distinctions.
Overall, the study concludes that people tend to select similar types of music for both studying and sleeping, suggesting these playlists serve overlapping functions in creating a calm, unobtrusive auditory background.
“Our study suggests that music used for studying and music used for sleeping share many characteristics in terms of tracks, genres and audio features. This similarity highlights the potential of music to create a pleasant but not too disturbing atmosphere, enabling individuals to focus on studying and to relax for sleep,” says Rebecca Jane Scarratt, PhD student at the Center for Music in the Brain at Aarhus University.
Relaxing effects on the brain
When examining playlists that appeared to be intended for study or for pre-sleep relaxation, the researchers found several consistent musical properties. Common traits included slower tempos, repetitive patterns, and generally subdued dynamics—characteristics associated with calming and stabilizing neural responses.
Genres that frequently appeared in both study and sleep collections included pop, lo-fi, classical, and ambient music. These genres often provide melodic, low-intensity soundscapes that can support concentration while remaining unlikely to distract.
According to the authors, such similarities likely stem from the music’s relaxing effects on the brain. Music with a slow tempo and repetitive structure can help reduce heart rate and lower physiological arousal, creating an environment well suited to focused work or the transition to sleep.
The research team also applied statistical comparisons to audio features across datasets to determine which attributes differed significantly. They report notable contrasts between sleep-specific or study-specific collections and general music libraries in measures such as loudness, energy, and valence (the emotional tone or mood of a track).
Specifically, the study found significant differences in Loudness, Energy, and Valence when comparing sleep or study datasets to general listening datasets. However, the audio-feature profiles of the study and sleep datasets were broadly similar to one another, reinforcing the idea that both categories of playlists promote a moderate, steady level of stimulation rather than dramatic emotional shifts.
Rebecca Scarratt notes that these findings open a pathway for comparative research on how music is actually used across everyday contexts, rather than how people theorize they use it. The results help bridge assumptions about the ideal characteristics of study versus sleep music and the real-world choices listeners make.
“While more research is needed to fully understand the relationship between music and cognitive processes, our study provides a starting point for exploring how music influences our attention, mood, and relaxation, and how it may enhance daily life,” says Rebecca Jane Scarratt.
About this music and neuroscience research news
Author: Jakob Christensen
Source: Aarhus University
Contact: Jakob Christensen – Aarhus University
Image: The image is in the public domain
Original Research: Open access.
“Music that is used while studying and music that is used for sleep share similar musical features, genres and subgroups” by Rebecca Jane Scarratt et al., Scientific Reports
Abstract
Music that is used while studying and music that is used for sleep share similar musical features, genres and subgroups
Music plays a central role in everyday life, and listeners often associate particular styles with specific activities—such as playlists intended for studying or for helping with sleep. Prior theories like the mood-arousal hypothesis predict different musical aims for study and sleep: study music might lift arousal to enhance cognitive performance, while sleep music is expected to reduce arousal and promote calm.
In this study the researchers assembled a Study music dataset by gathering tracks from Spotify playlists containing the words “study” or “studying” in their titles or descriptions. They compared this dataset with an existing Sleep music dataset, using Spotify’s audio-feature metrics to evaluate similarities and differences.
The analysis revealed that audio features across the two contexts are highly similar, the two sets feature many of the same genres, and k-means clustering shows similar subgroupings within the playlists. The authors propose that both sleep playlists and study playlists serve a shared purpose: to create a pleasant, unobtrusive auditory environment that supports focus during study and reduces arousal to aid sleep.
By leveraging large, Spotify-based datasets, the research uncovers unexpected overlap between music used in two contexts that might be assumed to require contrasting musical qualities. These findings provide a foundation for further study into how music affects cognitive and emotional states in daily life.