Sonos will never stop to amaze us. Founded in 2002 by John MacFarlane, Craig Shelburne, Tom Cullen & Trung Mai, the American Home Studio company set its goals high in order to deliver the best products in the market. When we met with the company’s representatives last year for the presentation of their latest speaker, we were impressed by their ethos and passion for improvement. A few months later, we covered their team up with Apple Music. Since yesterday, the Apple Music catalogue is available on all Sonos devices, worldwide. On top of all these exciting news, Sonos conducted a social study to prove a point: music makes people happier and brings them together. With a little help from their friends (Apple provided the required technology for the measurements), they got in 30 households around the world to answer one question: does music make it ‘home’?
It’s proven that music has therapeutic properties. There are many studies of how it can positively affect humans throughout their entire life. Even from the prenatal stage, music has a great impact in one’s life. Probably, we would all agree that music is the most popular form of art since it’s all around us – sometimes even without noticing it. Our heads are full of melodies and songs that are inextricably linked to our pool of memories and subconscious. Modern psychology is using music as an alternative to meds in order to cure, soothe and support patients who suffer from mental illnesses and/or are in rehabilitation. Documentaries like the 2014’s production Alive Inside: A Story of Music and Memory* inspire and encourage people to use music as a tool to connect with their families.
‘We hoped to explore what really happens when we play music out loud. Or, as our CEO John MacFarlane puts it, that moment when they brought music back into the house and it became a home’, states Sonos on their blog post.
According to Wikipedia, ‘happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being defined by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy’. Music, from the other hand, evokes emotions. Stereotypically speaking, a happy person is often humming a melody or whistling a song. Music is an essential ingredient for a successful event, whether we’re talking about a birthday party, a wedding or even a corporate event. But is it that necessary at home? Does it make any difference to the daily routine of a family? Does it have an impact on the relationship of a couple? Can it bring together two roommates? What happens when people put music out loud at home? That’s exactly what Sonos’ study is all about.
The experiment
For the Music Makes it Home study, 30.000 people across the world were surveyed. What is more, Sonos got in 30 homes in eight different countries to see, hear and track what happens when people don’t listen to music. Apple provided the technology for tracking the changes in the subjects lives after they played their favorite songs out loud.
Sonos proved its point
It’s a kind of study that the positive results were somehow expected. The company in their statement said:
Music doesn’t just help households, it transforms them. The songs, playlists and albums become a connector, a magnet pulling you back to the good life. You’re together more. You’re happy more. You love (and make love) more.
Respecting making love, Sonos says that playing music loud leads to having 67% more sex. But again, that’s because music is bringing people together in a substantial way.
The past couple of days there have been media criticizing Sonos (& Apple) for using the results as a marketing trick. Of course, the study has been conducted from a certain perspective and we’re talking about 30 households just. But doesn’t it open a discussion about how to live better at home?
In a society that the easiest thing to do is to isolate, a speakers company suggest you come together by listening to the music. As simple as it sounds and is, all you need to do is to put on your favorite album or playlist, turn up the volume and share that moment with the people around you. Sonos says it will bring you together.
If you still don’t believe that, try it out! Just put on music out loud next time you do chores, cook or *simply* are in the same room with the people you’re sharing the same roof. Just go for it. What do you have to lose?
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All photos and video material courtesy of Sonos. To learn more about the global study ‘Music Makes it Home’ you can check the company’s blog.
*As a side note, NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION highly recommends watching the documentary of Michael Rossato-Bennett “Alive Inside: A Story of Music and Memory”, which is about music’s ability to effectively help patients suffering from different kinds of dementia find back with themselves, be more happy and confident.