Column: Get out of your listening comfort zone!
Rarely do people do things they do not like or are not sure how to feel about in everyday life, such as the cars they drive, their favorite colors or even their fashion sense. People generally know what they like and stick to it; however, a medium that leaves more than a few people scratching their heads is music.
Music has a special ability that only it has; it can move people to feel an intentional range of emotions by merely organizing what we are all exposed to: air. Music, in its purest sense, is nothing more than the vibration of air that enters our ears while we decide whether we find it pleasant or not. However, a heartbreaking amount of people limit themselves to what they listen to for a countless number of reasons.
While music is solely a subjective matter and it is more than okay to only listen to what you are comfortable with, there is an endless amount of art that countless musicians have poured their heart and soul into that you could fall in love with, but could possibly not fall into your current “top genres.”
Don’t be afraid to branch out! Exploring different artists, genres and decades of music has led me to some of my favorite artists of all time, and while the hunt for new music can be daunting and can lead to finding some real duds, I find myself discovering many more artists I love rather than not.
No matter what type of music you’re into or your individual purpose for listening to music, there are always more artists that we have to dig deeper to find, but finding them can be truly game changing. I find it easiest to start with artists that I’ve heard of, but maybe haven’t listened to their music. From then, you start to see their influences and collaborators and before you know it, you’re down the rabbit hole of new music.
While music is not a big part of people’s lives compared to others, every human deserves to be exposed to art that makes them feel something, whether it’s happiness, sadness, remorse, yearning or anything in between. Get out of the “recently played” playlists and find something you love!
