--- title: 10 Facts You Didn't Know About Music description: Music Facts You Didn’t Know: Background music does not improve your ability to concentrate but will help you when you’re at the gym. It can... canonical: https://time.com/3103753/10-facts-you-didnt-know-about-music/ author: Eric Barker article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-16T04:01:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:54:33.252Z article:section: Ideas og:title: 10 Facts You Didn't Know About Music og:description: Music Facts You Didn’t Know: Background music does not improve your ability to concentrate but will help you when you’re at the gym. It can... og:url: https://time.com/3103753/10-facts-you-didnt-know-about-music/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 10 Facts You Didn't Know About Music twitter:description: Music Facts You Didn’t Know: Background music does not improve your ability to concentrate but will help you when you’re at the gym. It can... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # 10 Facts You Didn't Know About Music by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Aug 16, 2014 4:01 AM UTC by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Aug 16, 2014 4:01 AM UTC **Music Facts You Didn’t Know:** * [Background music](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/can-music-negatively-affect-your-memory) does [not improve your ability to concentrate](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/does-background-music-improve-your-ability-to) but will help you [when you’re](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/can-the-music-at-the-gym-affect-your-workout) at the [gym](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/does-background-music-improve-or-hurt-product). It can affect [how you work](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/how-does-listening-to-music-affect-performanc). A little[background noise](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/does-background-noise-make-you-more-or-less-c) makes you more creative, a lot hurts creativity. * One of the most interesting music facts in that your favorite song is probably your favorite because you [associate it with an emotional event in your life](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/why-is-your-favorite-song-your-favorite). Both [social influences and quality](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/do-we-pick-music-based-on-quality-or-social-i) affect which songs you like. You don’t like the original version of a song because it’s better, you like it because [it’s the one you heard first](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/do-we-prefer-the-original-version-of-a-song-b). Whether a musician [makes eye contact](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/is-there-an-easy-thing-musicians-do-to-make-y)during a concert and what they wear [affects whether you like their music](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/does-a-musicians-clothing-affect-how-much-we). * When [times are tough](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/how-does-the-economy-affect-popular-music) people prefer music that’s [more meaningful](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/do-tough-times-produce-more-meaningful-music). Music can [predict the stock market](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/can-popular-music-predict-the-stock-market). Popular music has been [getting more narcissistic](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/is-popular-music-getting-more-narcissistic) for a while now. All the best songs [are about sex anyway](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/are-the-best-songs-all-about-sex). * Do you feel these music facts are increasing your intelligence? Well, there’s a [lot](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-can-increase-90-of-childrens-verbal-inte) of [evidence](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/can-music-lessons-raise-iq) that playing [music](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/how-can-you-increase-your-iq) can [make you smarter](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/should-everyone-be-required-to-learn-a-musica). Listening to classical music [might increase that IQ](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/can-classical-music-make-you-smarter) as well. (And smarter people [like classical music](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/are-intelligent-people-more-likely-to-enjoy-c).) Music can literally affect [the way you see the world](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/can-music-literally-change-the-way-we-see-the) and lyrics can [influence your behavior](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/do-song-lyrics-affect-behavior). Liberals own [a wider variety of music](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/can-you-tell-a-conservative-from-a-liberal-by)than conservatives. * Music facts related to money: Bar owners get you to drink more by [turning the music up](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/how-do-bar-owners-get-you-to-drink-more). Love songs and romantic music make you [spend more in flower shops](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/can-the-music-playing-at-a-flower-shop-affect). Classical, jazz and popular music make you [spend more in restaurants](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-kind-of-music-makes-us-spend-the-most-in). * Rockstars do really [live fast and die young](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/do-rockstars-really-live-fast-and-die-young). It can cost [upwards of a million dollars](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/how-much-does-it-cost-to-make-a-hit-song) to make a hit song. [Music piracy](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/does-music-piracy-help-or-hurt-bands) helps big bands and hurts little bands. “Overall, the Beatles’ lyrics [became darker, more psychologically distant, and less immediate over time](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-do-you-learn-when-you-analyze-the-lyrics).” * The [music](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-does-the-music-you-like-say-about-your-p) you like [does say a lot about your personality](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/does-the-music-someone-likes-say-a-lot-about) because [different personality types are drawn to different music](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/how-does-our-personality-affect-the-music-we).Your personality also affects[how you use music](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/does-your-personality-determine-the-way-you-u). You get some of your musical taste [from your parents](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/do-you-get-your-musical-taste-from-your-paren). The music you’ll like when you’re old is probably[ what you were exposed to between ages 16 and 21](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-music-will-we-probably-enjoy-for-the-res). You can tell how conscientiousness and agreeable a man is [by watching him dance](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-does-your-dancing-style-tell-others-abou) — and if he keeps dancing he’ll [get more creative](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/does-dancing-make-you-more-creative). * Country music can [make you want to kill yourself](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/does-country-music-make-you-want-to-kill-your) but rock music [won’t](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/does-rock-music-promote-suicide). Classical is the [most relaxing](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-type-of-music-is-the-most-relaxing). People who like heavy metal [don’t have issues](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/whats-the-connection-between-metal-music-and). Jazz musicians actually [“turn off” part of their brain](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/jazz-musicians-turn-off-their-brains-inhibiti) to be more creative. Romantic music [does help](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/does-romantic-music-help-men-pick-up-women) men pickup women. Music can[persuade you](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-can-help-persuade-people-to-do-unethical) to do unethical things. Good music can [increase pain tolerance and reduce anxiety](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/can-good-music-increase-pain-tolerance-and-de). Melodies are more responsible [for how music makes us feel](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/are-the-lyrics-or-melodies-more-responsible-f) than lyrics. * Music facts about music junkies: People who really like music are [more likely to get songs stuck in their head](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-kind-of-people-are-most-likely-to-get-so) and the best way to deal with an “earworm” is to [just accept it](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-kind-of-people-are-most-likely-to-get-so). People who are very open to new experience are more likely to [get the chills from good music](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-kind-of-people-get-the-chills-when-liste). Yes, you can be [addicted to music](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/are-some-people-really-addicted-to-music) but Robert Palmer will be disappointed to find out you [probably aren’t “Addicted to Love](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/can-you-really-be-addicted-to-love).” * And of all the fun music facts I’ve presented here, this is my favorite: “An Italian singer wrote this song with gibberish to sound like English. If you’ve ever wondered what other people think Americans sound like, [this is it](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-english-sounds-like-to-foreigners/).” _This piece originally appeared on_ [**_Barking Up the Wrong Tree_**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/)_._ **Join over 90,000 readers and get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD)**.** More from Barker: [How To Be Resilient: 8 Steps To Success When Life Gets Hard](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/07/how-to-be-resilient/) [What 10 things should you do every day to improve your life?](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/05/what-10-things-should-you-do-every-day-to-imp/) [How To Make Your Life Better By Sending Five Simple Emails](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/07/make-your-life-better/) 10 Facts You Didn't Know About Music ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3103753/10-facts-you-didnt-know-about-music/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3103753/10-facts-you-didnt-know-about-music/"},"headline":"10 Facts You Didn't Know About Music","datePublished":"2014-08-16T04:01:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:54:33.252Z","description":"Music Facts You Didn’t Know: Background music does not improve your ability to concentrate but will help you when you’re at the gym. 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