Spotted on Spotify
Hands up if you go a day without listening to music?... Ok, put your hand down, we don’t believe you.
Music is everywhere, all the time. It’s in everything we watch on Netflix (unless you’re into silent movies), in our headphones or even heard when your roommate practices their solo for the local university production of The Wizard of Oz. Studies show that listening to music that you love can dramatically increase your happiness, enhance exercising and strengthen your learning and memory – hello exams! So, how do we build on something already so ingrained into our lives?
Luckily for you, we made a list of the best that the popular music app Spotify has to offer:
Playlist DJ
Creating collections, commonly referred to as playlists, in Spotify is the easiest way to find those three songs you’ve been playing on loop for a month, or, to quickly jump into your revision classical collection. But, consider sharing your playlists with the world.
- Use the collaborate feature. This allows you to open your playlist to others for contributions. You’ll be creating a collection of songs around a theme that others can add to. Discover what others listen to when they’re cooking noodles.
- Customise your playlist. If you have a public playlist try giving it a fun name, maybe design a playlist artwork or add your own description so other students can get a feel of the collection. You’re basically a few steps away from being a music producer. For an (bad) example, check out the songs from my school years in my playlist Ye Olde Bops if you feel like exploring the question tastes of the late 2000’s.
- Go to your radio. From your playlist, Spotify creates a “radio”. This is a collection of tracks affiliated with those you’ve already saved that are just destined to join the party. Discover old favourites that your forgot, or new undiscovered bops you’ll love.
Tune out to tune in
Need a social media break? Internet detox? Sometimes we all need some down time to just think or breath or whatever works for you really. One of the greatest things about music is it can effectively alter your state of mind for the positive. Try searching for the mood you want to be in and discover the music that can help! It might feel strange, but actively reacting to the trials of university life using something like music can be a great wellbeing tool for students. Plus, Spotify allows offline listening which makes that internet detox even easier.
It’s not all music
Maybe music is not your thing. Try giving podcasts a go! Since opening their podcast offering in 2018, Spotify has become one of the go-to libraries for podcast fanatics. Just like their music offering, Spotify will identify the types of podcast you like and suggest new ones to try based on theme, podcaster and format! Revise in a new way with a podcast dedicated to American history or whatever your specialist subject might be, or delve deeper into student life with bitesize episodes from The Naked Student exploring all nature of university experiences.
We hope you find something new in Spotify to try and to get you started we are offering a free 6 month subscription to Spotify when you book your student room with us for the academic year 2021 – 2021. Find out more about this offer and the other subscriptions you can choose from here.