86% of Brits say music helps their mental health and personal relationships

Music helps people's mental health and helps to build better interpersonal connections, survey results show.

According to recent data collected by the app FREE NOW, 85.7% of survey respondents said that music listening is crucial to maintaining their mental well-being, and 83.9% said that music has previously brought them to tears.

31% of those surveyed believe that shared interests in music are how they met their partners. Similarly, over half of those surveyed believe that music is a major factor in the development of strong friendships.

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Beyond interpersonal relationships, the study also found that 48.5% of people claimed that music had led them to alter their appearance at some point.

Only 2% of survey respondents said they listen to music fewer than once a week, whereas 65.2% said they do so daily.

The study also finds that 57.8% of individuals listen to music more than they socialise with friends and family, and 83.6% of respondents listen to music more than they watch films.

Two-thirds of respondents also stated that music venues are essential to the culture of their hometown, emphasising just how important small and DIY music venues are to their community.

London was voted as the UK city with the best music scene by the respondents, followed by Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Glasgow.

To assist and help independent music venues, FREE NOW is collaborating with the Music Venue Trust (MVT) to fund 120 grassroots events around the UK.

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“The importance of music was never in doubt but it’s great to see confirmation of just how vital it is to people’s daily lives,” says FREE NOW’s Mariusz Zabrocki in a statement.

Music Venue Trust CEO Mark Davyd said: “The grassroots music sector is facing incredibly tough times with the energy crisis and the cost of living challenges compounding the impacts of the pandemic. This survey demonstrates again how important these venues are and how much it matters to people.”

Aneesa Ahmed is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow her on Twitter