Hi friends!
Have you heard of the Barcelona Music Reward Questionnaire (BMRQ)? I came across it because I googled, "why don't I enjoy music as much as other people?" Of course, it's one of those things you don't bother to google because you don't think you'll get an actual answer.
A Sixth Sense
Sometimes when I fall asleep, I get a very intense ticklish sensation (some may call it tingling), that ranges from somewhat pleasant to very uncomfortable! I usually have to jolt myself awake because it feels like I'm being tickled aggressively and I just want to squirm. Now, I imagine the majority of people do not experience this. I cannot even begin to accurately describe what it feels like. It's another one of those things I didn't bother to google until later in life!
Reddit turns up sleep paralysis, lucid dreaming, and astral projection forums. Huh, I can't seem to find a scientific answer for this phenomenon.
However, when I asked, "why don't I enjoy music as much as other people?", it turned up something called Musical Anhedonia. For a small percentage of people, the brain's reward centers do not get activated when hearing music. Researchers studying this used a survey to assess five categories:
Musical Seeking: Actively looking for new songs or concerts.
Emotion Evocation: Experiencing thrills, goosebumps, or tears.
Mood Regulation: Using music to alter your emotional state.
Social Reward: Enjoying music as a shared, communal experience.
Sensory-Motor Response: Tapping your feet, dancing, or humming.
I imagine if I took this survey, my score would be pretty low. This is something I didn't realize was a minority within the population. Actually, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw people's Spotify wrapped or number of streams per song (ranging from 200-600). I thought, perhaps, the people who love music post about it more, so therefore they should represent a pretty small subset of the population!
Hmm... I'm not so sure about that anymore. Imagine losing one of your 5 senses, or having it dulled. I have a friend who can't smell (aka, anosmia). You'd think of this as a minor inconvenience, but it does have an impact on the way you perceive the world compared to others. Taste is greatly affected by smell, so the typical foods other people enjoy would taste different to you. The same friend said she's tried a hit of other peoples' vapes, and she didn't get the hype since they didn't taste like anything. I reminded her that she can't smell, and then she got mad at me. (Joking)
Are we anti-silence?
More often than not, I see people fill the silence with music. I just don’t really have that urge, since I love using silence as space to gather my own thoughts. Apparently, the people I talk to hate thinking to themselves. It seems to kickstart a lot of negativity for people when they start introspecting, but for me, it's an outlet to brainstorm and discover things about myself. I mean, it's exactly what I am doing when writing this blog post.
I often wonder what life was like before streaming services and portable music. Music was probably more of a special event to be enjoyed while active listening, and not so much being out and about.
Why do I collect CDs then? I think I feel that way about music. It’s more of a special occasion for me. When I try to discover music, it isn't through streaming random playlists or the radio. I usually ask for other people's song recommendations, or I will pluck out a melody from the background of a TikTok. I feel that I do have a degree of musical anhedonia, so it is very challenging to find music that I connect with. Furthermore, I have noticed that my memories of a song are not long lasting. Even songs that I think are strokes of musical genius, I tend to forget about if I haven't listened to them recently.
I think CDs help with that. They are a physical reminder to discover music. In fact, I'm forced to listen to the more forgettable songs in a playlist -- aka, the non-hits -- and rediscover them again. I truly feel like when a play a CD, it's like I'm hearing the songs again for the first time. I may not be moved to tears, or want to get up and dance, or gravitate towards music as a source of comfort. However, I see music as an art to be appreciated, and a playlist as a curated collection of similar works (which is artistic in itself).
My brain's reward centers aren't stimulated just by consuming music. However, tapping into the creative flow that music provides -- making a curated mixtape, hearing someone explain how they produced a song, and breaking down why I think a song is undeniable catchy -- that does! So even though I'm not going to be listening to the same song 600 times, I'm seeking out ways to enjoy music, even if it doesn't illicit as much of an emotional response as it does for others.
Thanks for reading, until next time!
- Valentine
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