Listening to audio activates key centers of your brain, from your emotional response to memory storage to interest and engagement. On Spotify, that's happening whether you're listening to a song, a podcast, or an ad-meaning you're more highly engaged and are more likely to remember what you listened to. So listening makes for a fully mindful experience, and thanks to volume two of Spotify's Sonic Science report, we now know it also makes for a full body experience full of good vibes, too.
In 2021, Spotify Advertising released Sonic Science: Understanding your brain on sound. In this first volume, we partnered with the research team at Neuro-Insights to examine the neurological impact of audio and what it means for advertisers. We looked at how Spotify's deep levels of personalization and interactivity make it a highly immersive, emotionally provoking, memorable medium-more so than TV, digital video, and social media.
For Sonic Science: Volume 2, out today, we turned our attention to audio's impact on the body. For the Record asked Marion Boeri, Spotify Associate Director, Thought Leadership, to fill us in.
What is Sonic Science? Why did Spotify want to examine this? Sonic Science is really all about trying to understand the impact of digital audio. This research franchise is meant to be used by our advertising partners, as well as brands, creative agencies, media agencies, and marketers. The idea is to educate them on the power of audio and really prove that it is a crucial format to leverage when engaging with their consumers. But we also want to help them and guide them to be more contextually relevant.
We already know that audio is crucial for a lot of people throughout the day. We see from our first-party data that it's used at any and every moment of the day, and we see how culture is reflected on our platform. We do know people are using audio to help with stress and anxiety-we talk about the good it's doing for mental health. So looking at our brains and getting dirty with science and unpacking that impact helps us understand what that means for an advertiser when they want to engage and leverage an audio platform.
At the end of the day, we want to make sure we're creating a positive environment, and that translates into a positive impact for advertisers. Ultimately, we're using the insights and the research to create a set of best practices that really helps us guide our advertisers and be even better on the platform, and with a stronger strategy. We're trying to create an advertising experience that is additive and not disruptive.
Where did we focus during the second round of research? In volume one, we looked at the brain. In volume two, we looked at the entire body. You know how you'll be listening to something scary and get goosebumps? Or listening to something with a high BPM and see your heart rate go up, even if you're not jumping around? We wanted to prove this mind-body connection.
So we worked with a biometrics research company, MindProber, as well as Josh McDermott, PhD, who leads the Laboratory for Computational Audition at MIT and who served as an advisor to our entire process. Together with MindProber, we engaged over 400 Spotify Free listeners in the U.K. and U.S., and we asked them to listen to Spotify at least once a day for an hour, doing whatever they would normally do while listening-work, commute, play with kids, cook dinner, work out, clean-but while wearing a sensor in the palm of their hand. With that sensor, we were capturing heart rate and body temperature: electrodermal activity. We captured the emotional arousal, how people's bodies were reacting to music and podcasts, in their natural context.
It was crucial to us to really be able to have listeners be in their natural environment. So in effect, we were looking at what was happening every day, in any listener's life, and just trying to understand how that translated into engagement. So that was a great complement to the brain story by trying to validate everything and looking at the whole body. And we captured so much data!
What were some of the findings and results? It validated a lot of things that we already know as Spotify listeners. We all have emotional needs: Sometimes you'll turn to a piece of music because what you want is motivation. Sometimes you need to chill, and you'll turn to something very different. So with this study, we were able to map that out and lay out the acoustic attributes related to what listeners were doing. Some things were common sense, like high-density, high-tempo audio for working out, or instrumental music for gaming. But we also noticed, for example, that when people are walking alone, they're more likely to engage with songs with a high rate of speech-a lot of words. At the end of the day, we have different needs, and we can try to fulfill these with audio. It's more than a soundtrack-it's a mirror of our lives. And that was something we were able to validate with the data.
Plus, we learned that the Spotify listening experience creates a halo of good vibes. Even when they're streaming sad music, listeners get a mood boost when they tune into Spotify. A third of our Sonic Science study participants reported feeling happy or cheerful after listening to Spotify, while a quarter described feeling calm -regardless of when they listened, what they listened to, and what they were doing at the time.
What's the takeaway for those who want to be more in tune with their consumption habits? There are a few. One is that you can kind of trick your body into having an emotional reaction. Some people love listening to very sad music when they're upset. Some people use music to get out of that sadness. I think being more mindful of the impact audio can have-not only on
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
15/07/2026
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is a big deal for DAZN, which has distribution rights in three markets: Italy, Spain, and Japan. Each requires a different editorial app...
15/07/2026
As sports-media organizations manage rapidly growing content libraries and incre...
15/07/2026
HBS director of digital Johannes Franken talks SVG Europe through the operation built to serve FIFA World Cup 2026 rights holders remotely from Stratford, east ...
15/07/2026
IBC has unveiled the conference program for IBC2026, with this year's event ...
15/07/2026
Software-defined wideband RF platform supports 96-kHz monitoring, streamlined fr...
15/07/2026
New AI-powered module enables broadcasters and content owners to extract dialogu...
15/07/2026
Weeklong gathering at EBU headquarters will test new IPMX capabilities and expand certified product ecosystem...
15/07/2026
Force Tech has announced the appointment of Bryan Adams, CTS, as Vice President of Integration. Adams will oversee AV and broadcast integration project delivery...
15/07/2026
USA Sports has announced an exclusive English-language agreement with the Bundes...
15/07/2026
ITV Sport's FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage has been produced from one of the m...
15/07/2026
Program will provide professional camera kits, training, and technical support to participating local newsrooms...
15/07/2026
San Francisco church becomes first U.S. deployment of the 2 M/E production switcher...
15/07/2026
Former ESPN and NFL Network executive to advise startup league on media, distribution, technology, and fan engagement...
15/07/2026
The Houston-based RSN is the live-game home of the Astros and Rockets...
15/07/2026
Launched alongside new FreqSoft installer
Designed to bridge the gap between hardware and software, Freqport's FreqInOut FO1 unit provides a simple way ...
15/07/2026
Save up to 55% on software until 23 July 2026
Expressive E have just launched their Summer Offer sale, with discounts of up to 55% now applied across their ...
15/07/2026
Real-time stem-separation tool updated
zplane have recently released a new and improved version of their real-time stem-separation plug-in which they say ma...
15/07/2026
A new benchmark in bass enhancement
Described as a new benchmark in bass enhancement , Baby Audio's latest release has been designed to augment the lo...
15/07/2026
DMC Production's AR 1 and AR 2 units reverse the conventional OB workflow, keeping all production-critical processing at the venue while operators work remo...
15/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/07/2026
GigaCloud, a leading Ukrainian cloud service provider, and Cubbit, the first geo-distributed cloud storage enabler, today announced a new Business Alliance Part...
15/07/2026
SMPTE, the global society for media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has announced the launch of the SMPTE 110th Anniversary Campaign, a fundraising...
15/07/2026
Studio Technologies, a leading manufacturer of high-quality audio, video, and fiber-optic solutions, unveils the new StudioComm Model 762 Stereo Level Control, ...
15/07/2026
COW Jobs: Producer, Virtual Events - Hybrid, Full Time, Salaried
Brie Clayton July 15, 2026
0 Comments
Producer, Virtual Events (Hybrid | Full-time | ...
15/07/2026
Brazilian media organization builds nationwide CDN with Broadpeak's high-performance software for low-latency streaming and new content distribution service...
15/07/2026
DHD announces a new utility designed to increase the efficiency of its audio mixing systems during initial installation and subsequent configuration.
Anyone w...
15/07/2026
BCNEXXT Brings Next-Generation Vipe to IBC2026, Breaking the 1:1 Channel-to-Server Ratio New innovations liberate broadcasters from legacy playout infrastructur...
15/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/07/2026
Wednesday 15 July 2026
Screeners and press pack now available: Gomorrah: The Or...
15/07/2026
Trinity's Treasures features Ruth Negga, Eleanor McEvoy, and David Norris, a...
15/07/2026
Join geographer Dr Susan Hegarty, Engineer Tim Joyce and Architect Orla Murphy a...
15/07/2026
Home to leading manufacturers, robotics pioneers, infrastructure builders and gaming, of course, Japan is one of the world's centers of AI - building across...
14/07/2026
South end zone videoboard, cloud-based control system will be ready for 2026 football season...
14/07/2026
Redesigned website, enhanced mobile app unify content, ticketing, and personalized fan engagement...
14/07/2026
Agreement spans sponsorship sales, digital monetization, radio production, and new practice facility naming rights...
14/07/2026
Independent league adds 14 regional sports network affiliates, growing distribut...
14/07/2026
New strategy aims to unify competitions, content, fan engagement, and commercial...
14/07/2026
ESPN and Disney+ become exclusive home of PFL events in key international MMA market...
14/07/2026
Gill will oversee engineering, technology, and sports operations across the company's 64 local television stations...
14/07/2026
Submitted by North American Broadcasters Association (NABA)
As broadcasters con...
14/07/2026
Modernized mobile unit combines HOME Apps, mc 56 console, and IP infrastructure ...
14/07/2026
Every match of the 32-team tournament will air across ION and Scripps Sports platforms in English and Spanish...
14/07/2026
FloHockey to stream every game of the annual international tournament under four...
Listening to audio activates key centers of your brain, from your emotional response to memory storage to interest and engagement. On Spotify, that's happening whether you're listening to a song, a podcast, or an ad-meaning you're more highly engaged and are more likely to remember what you listened to. So listening makes for a fully mindful experience, and thanks to volume two of Spotify's Sonic Science report, we now know it also makes for a full body experience full of good vibes, too. 
