Study: Listening to music together leads to more sex

Image: Ex-lovers Joan Baez and Bob Dylan

Listening music aloud in your house can bring your closer to your family and your partners, claims a new study.

The Music Makes it Home Study was released by Sonos at the same time that it announced that Apple Music was now streaming through its home systems.

Australia was one of eight countries in the study. Globally, those who listen to music out loud spend on average 3 hours and 13 minutes more together a week.

Couples who listen to music out loud together say they have 60% more sex (too bad for those who listen through headphones). In fact, up to 46% of Australians would choose music over sex (compared to one third globally) but 29% would choose television over sex and music.

After music was introduced in the home, 43% felt extremely loved. 59% actually liked people more if they played the music they liked. 18% actually told their partners “I love you” because a particular song came on. Listening to music in the home made people 12% less “jittery”, 24% less irritable and 25% more “inspired.”

Music made people spend 20% more time in the kitchen together, accounting for 15% more meals together. 50% found they enjoyed cooking more when music was blaring out, 58% even thought the food seemed to taste better.

“For years, Sonos owners have been telling us amazing stories about how music has transformed their houses into homes,” said Sonos’ CEO John MacFarlane of the study, “We’ve never been able to put that magic into words, but this research illustrates the real impact of listening to music out loud together — and that makes the Sonos effect easier to understand.”

The experiment was conducted in January over two periods. First there was a global survey of 30,000, of which 4000 were Australians. They were asked about their music habits and their relationships at home.

The second part was held over two weeks in 30 homes (two in Australia) covering 109 room mates, married couples, multi-generational families and couples living together for the first time.

For each Sonos provided Apple Watches for all family members over five years old to measure biometrics like heart rate and calories burned, as well as iPhones for playing through the Sonos speaker systems provided, as well as iBeacons to monitor family members’ activity throughout the home. Households were first logged during a week without music out loud in the home, then for a week while 8,124 songs were played out loud over 44,000 hours.

It’s not known how the data would bear up under scientific scrutiny. But its results conveniently point to the fact that listening to music (obviously Apple Music in particular) should be done turned up loud (obviously through Sonos’ in-house systems). It not only makes your music sound better but if makes your life better.

The study was done in January by US neuropsychologist Dr. Daniel J. Levitin, a former musician and record producer who wrote the international best selling book This Is Your Brain on Music. “The truth is people may be sharing a home, but they aren’t sharing much else,” he said. “Music may be able to change that by bringing everyone back together.

“This study takes an important step forward in showing how listening to music out loud can enhance relationships at home.”