Revealed: the ultimate creativity playlist
What do you do to get into the right headspace for carrying out a creative task? Do you go for a run, tidy your workspace, or turn on your favorite playlist?
We wanted to see just how music can help with creativity, so we surveyed the public to find out if listening to their favorite tunes made them more creative, before analyzing the best songs to get you in the right frame of mind.
So, if you’re looking for ways to get your creative juices flowing, then read on, as we have the answer…
Rock is the most popular genre for boosting creativity
23% of our survey respondents said listening to music helped their productivity, 15% said it made them more creative, a further 15% said it helped them to focus; and for 53% of respondents, it boosted all three, showing that music really does have a lot of benefits!
For 88% of respondents, they’ll listen to music at least sometimes when carrying out a creative task. When it comes to genres, rock is by far the most popular choice for getting a much-needed creative boost, with 47.7% of our respondents opting for rock music. This is followed by pop and country, with hip hop and R&B making up the top five.
Whilst rock is the most popular genre for men when carrying out a creative task (51%), women found that pop helped them to boost their creativity the most (46%); and for one in 10 respondents, podcasts are their preferred choice.
Hans Zimmer’s Time is the number one song for encouraging creativity
So, what are the best songs for promoting creativity? We analysed all the creative playlists across Spotify, and these were the songs that were featured the most…
Hans Zimmer’s combination of traditional orchestra and electronic sounds has placed him at the top of our creativity playlist, with Time featuring on 38 related playlists across Spotify. Panic! At the Disco!’s rockier tune High hopes features in second place, but it’s Tyler, the Creator that features the most across the board on creative playlists, with three of his songs making it into our top 10 list.
So, if you want to get your creativity on, then give these 10 songs a listen, or find rock and pop songs that have a BPM of between 60-80.
Why does music boost creativity?
If you, like many others in our survey, find your creativity increases when you’re listening to music, then know there’s scientific proof behind it!
We spoke to Dennis Reloio-Howell, Managing Director of psychology website Psychreg, who explained that music can have a huge impact on emotions, which is one of the reasons why composers add music to films, as they want you to feel sad, happy, angry or scared at exactly the right time.
Bearing that in mind, you’ve probably chosen music yourself to evoke a particular reaction in your brain, just like when gym-goers put on a motivational playlist full of energy to get them through a workout.
Reloio-Howell, who’s also a doctoral researcher in clinical psychology at the University of Edinburgh, added that it’s for this reason music is incorporated in creative therapy, which can help people who are experiencing a range of mental, emotional and physical issues.
So, if you want to boost your productivity and creativity, make sure you give our creative playlist a listen to!
Alternatively, if you’re looking to incorporate more creativity into your home, then selecting some of your favorite paintings is a great way to start. From abstract paintings, to landscape wall art and nude portraits, we stock a range of themes and styles to cater to all tastes. Or, if you want more art or interior inspiration, head on over to our blog.
