How Music Affects Media

Music is a silent narrator of modern media, a powerful force that guides the audience through specific emotions, creates tension, and heightens drama. Music does more than just accompanying visuals, it elevates them. Ensuring that the film, television show, or video game has moments that become embedded in the viewer's memory. Music bridges the gap between what we see and the emotions from the scene. Which ultimately affect the surrounding media.

Importance of Music in Media

The importance of music in influencing the mood and using it as a tool to convey strong emotions. A study called The Effect of Social Media Content Production, states that “Incorporating music enhances creativity, evokes emotions, modifies behaviours and reinforces brands” (Tabak, 2023, paras. 2). Moreover, the presence of music triggers a psychological response which deepens the audience’s emotional connection as well as aid in memory recall (AMW, 2024).

An example of how much music influences the overall tone and settings. Imagine a horror movie, but the soundtrack is the alphabet song.

The Psychological Impacts of Music in Media

As stated previously by AMW in 2023, that music triggers an emotional engagement to the media as well as help in active recall. These are just some of the psychological impacts that are caused from music in media. Specifically, music can affect the audience’s emotions as it can cause a mood induction, emotional resonance to the scene, and physiological responses such as goosebumps or chills. This source states that the role of music has on memory recall, are specifically intertwined with associative learning, when music is combines with visuals it creates an association in the brain. As well as emotional memory, which is music’s ability to make us feel and create memories off the emotions.

Conclusion

As “background music is an indispensable part of films and plays an important role in enhancing audiences’ attention to scenes” (Kwon et al., 2022, para. 1). Thus making music a vital role in shaping and enhancing media by strengthening the emotional impact, reinforcing the arratives, and influencing the audience’s perception. Whether in film, television, advertising, or social media, music guides viewer’s perception which creates a new atmosphere and helps define a memory. Its power of evoking memories helps build tension or inspire action making it an indispensable tool in media production. As music remains to bridge the gap between the message of the media and the emotions of it, it transforms media into compelling, immersive experiences.

Works Cited

Amw. (2024, June 20). Music and media: How soundtracks shape our experience. AMW®. https://www.amworldgroup.com/blog/music-and-media

Kwon, Y. S., Lee, J., & Lee, S. S. (2022). The impact of background music on film audience's attentional processes: Electroencephalography alpha-rhythm and event-related potential analyses. Frontiers in psychology, 13, 933497. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.933497

Tabak, C. (2023, October). (PDF) the effect of music in social media content production - sosyal medya i̇çerik üretiminde Müziğin Etkisi. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/374987778_The_Effect_of_Music_in_Social_Media_Content_Production_-_Sosyal_Medya_Icerik_Uretiminde_Muzigin_Etkisi