Poll Suggests Listening to Full Albums Bests Movies + Exercise for Beating Stress
With Record Store Day's Black Friday promotion coming up, did you realize you might be doing more for your well being than just enjoying the satisfaction of picking up some cool vinyl? It turns out that listening to full albums also has some health benefits as well.
According to The Sun, in a new poll conducted by the Entertainment Retailers Association, 83 percent of respondents revealed that they use LPs to help them relax. It turns out that playing an LP's tracks in order from start to finish beats stress more than gardening or a movie, according to the poll. Only reading and binge eating ranked higher for adults attempting to chill out from potential stress.
The poll was conducted in the U.K. with over 2,000 respondents in advance of National Album Day (Oct. 12). Kim Bayley, from the ERA, said, "British music fans are effectively self-medicating with their favorite albums. Reading and album-listening seem to have similar benefits and given the concerns about obesity, both are probably better for us than comfort eating.”
Geoff Taylor of the British Phonographic Industry, added, "Music is a wonderful way to relax, but its benefits can go much deeper when the listener really takes the time to slow down and immerse themselves in the whole album as the songwriter intended.”
Dr. Julia Jones, who has studied music's effects on health, suggested that playing a "low-tempo relaxing album" before bed could help ease the listener into "sleep mode."
With streaming, downloads and singles being more prominent in recent years, the poll shows good reason why the album art form is still vital. So break out some of your favorite albums and feel the stress melt away.
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