In the search for relaxation and quiet, many American households suffer from “Net-Zero Noise Syndrome”–a lack of the shared experience of music that is so important to everyone’s health and wellbeing.
Depending on your generation and your family’s musical inclinations, you may have grown up with the sounds of Sinatra floating through the air or the Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Garth Brooks, Kanye West, or Nirvana played at top volume. But now? Chances are your walls don’t vibrate to the sound of music.
Even if you and the rest of your household listen to music today, you’re more likely to listen on your own rather than together. The combination of expectations for privacy and independence within a family, the addictive ability to disappear into social media, and the prevalence of personal devices for music have led to the rise of the “Silent Home,” according to Daniel Levitin, author of This is Your Brain on Music.
In a 2017 study by Sonos, researchers discovered that 60% of adults in the nine countries in the survey said they listen to less music now than when they were younger. And when they are listening, 44% said that most of the time they’re alone or listening with headphones.
The Sonos Silent Home Assessment study also found:
71% of Americans report a shortage of meaningful conversations at home.
54% of Americans said they spend more time interacting with technology than each other.
79% admit to not playing music when entertaining.
Music can be a powerful stress reducer and an important part of physical, mental and emotional health, says Scott Glassman, director of the Master of Applied Positive Psychology program of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, and author of A Happier You: A Seven-Week Program to Transform Negative Thinking into Positivity & Resilience.
“Listening together as a family can have a powerful impact on relationships,” says Glassman. “One study found that adolescents who shared experiences such as listening to music, attending concerts, and playing instruments with their parents had better relationships with them.”
Music creates empathy, connection, and concern for people within a family and for humans as a species, which in turn can lead to caring about the environment we live in and the health of the planet.
“When you listen to music together, there’s a synchronization and coordination of emotions that helps everyone try harder to see each other’s perspective,” says Glassman.
In its study, Sonos found that when playing music out loud, people are 14% more excited, 24% less irritable, 22% more active, and 25% more inspired compared to people who don’t play music out loud.
“Listening to music out loud together modulates levels of serotonin, a feel-good hormone in the brain,” Levitin told Sonos.
Does Your Family Suffer From Net-Zero Noise Syndrome?
Tuning out by listening to music on headphones can be a meaningful experience that’s valuable to our mental health, but it can also be isolating, says Suzanne Hanser, a professor in the music therapy department at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and president of the International Association for Music and Medicine.
“Music can calm us down, help us relax, or energize us,” Hanser says. “When it’s hard to express how we feel, music can sometimes say it for us, such as the authentic despair in Billie Eilish’s songs.”
In music therapy, there’s also a technique to match your music with your mood and to listen to music to change your mood, says Hanser.
“Listening to music can be used as a method to increase mindfulness, especially in children,” says Glassman. “It increases self-awareness, develops attention span, and can lead to more resilience, and self-reliance.”
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