As a college student, one may have a myriad of responsibilities to juggle: class, studying, work, family, children and friends. With midterms approaching, stress and anxiety can be at an all-time high due to stacking of life and cramming extra study time into an already busy schedule.
Sometimes the right environment can make a difference to mood and overall productivity: a comfy seat, desk, lighting, visual organization, ambient sound level and music. Not everyone has access to altering their study environments to fit all the needs or wants they may have. While student financial circumstances vary between individuals, if you have access to YouTube, there is a tool that could be helpful for your upcoming midterms study sessions.
Previous generations have said that classical or instrumental music is considered the “best” to listen to while studying due to raising of productivity through better focus; however, over the last 10 years, a subgenre of electronic music referred to as “Lo-fi” has risen in popularity for a myriad of uses, most popularly studying.
Lo-fi or chillpop refers to low-fidelity music in which its quality is considered imperfect. A majority of Lo-fi composers are smaller or less known artists that create beats on their own without a record label. Lo-fi has a large range of diversity when it comes to setting an ambiance: from original beats and movie scores (“Great Fairy Fountain” from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time), genre blends (South Korean hip-hop or medieval folk), cultural beats (middle eastern or Japanese mixes) and holiday mixes (Halloween or Christmas).
Approaching a new genre can be intimidating especially if one is limited on time and does not know where to start. A recommended account to check out on YouTube is called “Lofi Girl.” Lofi Girl’s channel has a few hundred videos to choose from, some of which are on live continuous loops with no ads. The benefit of using a resource such as this allows listeners to have their own DJ—making way for less distractions and more focus. The playlists are compiled of different artists based on genre, theme or mood. Lofi girl’s channel can be found at https://www.youtube.com/c/LofiGirl.
On YouTube and on other platforms such as Spotify, there are a myriad of playlists to explore outside of studying like for sleep, playing video games, reading, driving, work and just hanging out.
While classical and instrumental music may still be some individuals preferred genre to study to, Lo-fi can offer fewer distracting beats that listeners can connect to based on personal interest and the genre’s large diversity.