Give Lofi a Try?
Ethan Caldwell & Michael Owoyemi Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
It’s almost eleven, your eyelids are drooping, the to-do list glaring up at you from your desk seems endless… and you’re listening to lofi. Sound familiar? In just the past decade, this music genre, known more casually as “chillhop,” “lofi hip hop,” or even “lofi beats to study to,” has skyrocketed in popularity, dominating the YouTube music scene and pervading study spaces across the country [11]. But what is lofi music? With origins in the instrumental and experimental hip hop of the 1990s [10], lofi (short for low-fidelity, which embraces minor musical imperfections or distortions) is defined by its downtempo musical style and atmospheric sounds [11]. Sometimes even AI-generated, this music is specifically designed to be functional — that is, specially tuned to activate activity in parts of the brain linked to focus, meditation, and relaxation [8]. Musically, this generally corresponds to a steady pulse and dense textures that contribute to a sense of energy and motion as well as a lack of vocals and clear melodies [8]. Lofi gained significant popularity through YouTube and 24-hour “livestreams” that featured continuous “lo-fi beats”; the pandemic increased its popularity because this music evoked intense feelings and memories that helped people manage isolation [11]. Its popularity today is emphasized by its presence as a truly global phenomenon, with producers ranging across the world [10]. But is lofi really as productive as its wide base of supporters and creators argue?
To answer this question, we must first consider whether music of any genre improves focus or aids studying. While music can improve our mood and motivate us to stick with difficult tasks, it can also be distracting; in fact, some research shows that introverts might even be more prone to losing focus while listening to music because they may be more easily overstimulated [1]. Nonetheless, many parents in the past have put their faith in “the Mozart Effect”, which suggests that Mozart music can, through a change in brain activity, aid spatial performance and other tasks, potentially helping a baby develop more powerful cognitive functions from an early age — but does this phenomenon have scientific backing? Studies aiming to substantiate this theory have produced mixed results, specifically regarding whether only Mozart music is responsible for cognitive improvement or if any relaxing music has similar effects. Critics also argue that increased cognitive performance is merely due to listeners’ appreciation or enjoyment of the music, not because it has special neurological effects [4]. Although long-term effects of the Mozart Effect have been all but debunked, other studies have indeed found significant in-the-moment improvements from classical (specifically Mozart) music; what is it, then, that boosts performance? Researchers seem to agree that long-term periodicity, or repetition in the music, has one of the most noticeable beneficial effects [4]; interestingly, lofi is often characterized by this repetition. Is there, then, grounds to believe in a Lofi Effect?
A study conducted by researchers at Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines seems to have found an answer. These researchers organized their experiment to measure the effects on memory recall of both lofi music and text font. Not only did they discover that non-lyrical lofi music was significantly more helpful than no background music, but also that non-lyrical music led to significantly higher recall results than did lyrical lofi, which illustrates that non-lyrical lofi is most effective in aiding memory and comprehension [3]. Another study conducted by researchers at De La Salle University corroborates these findings, comparing the effects of pop, lofi, R&B, and metal on test scores. Not only did participants prefer listening to lofi (which received the highest positive response of all four genres), but they performed significantly better under this setting. This study also found that metal actually lowered test scores compared with the control (no music), which illustrates that heavy, lyrical music can be distracting [6]. However, not all research agrees. A third study aimed to differentiate among the effects of several music genres on cognitive performance, specifically comparing classical and lofi styles. Surprisingly, these researchers found that neither classical nor lofi had any statistically significant effect on reading comprehension or spacial ability exam scores, nor were there any significant differences between the two genres [4].
Despite these mixed results, listening to lofi music can still be beneficial. For one, it is frequently non-lyrical, which eliminates the distractions found in the studies above. In addition, because lofi relies on looping, it repeats itself periodically, which keeps the music semi-predictable, further minimizing distraction [9]. More generally, lofi drowns out background noise, stimulates brain activity, and has calming effects, allowing listeners to focus on studying without stress [5]. Much of this may sound like qualitative speculation, but scientific research has supported of these conclusions. Music has even been shown to provide short-term benefits for depression patients by decreasing anxiety and improving functioning [2] and that listening to lofi music not only increases cognitive performance, but also lowers heart rate variability, which indicates relaxation [7]. Even if the question about lofi’s effect on studying and performance remains somewhat unresolved, this burgeoning genre still has its merits. Lofi balances relaxation and focus, keeping late-night studiers engaged without putting them to sleep. Next time you’re up late doing work, maybe give lofi a try: it might be just what you need to get through that last item on your to-do list.
References
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Aalbers, S., Fusar-Poli, L., Freeman, R. E., Spreen, M., Ket, J. C., Vink, A. C., Maratos, A., Crawford, M., Chen, X. J., & Gold, C. (2017). Music therapy for depression. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2017(11). https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.cd004517.pub3
Casumbal, K. J., So, M., Ng, A. V., & Guzman, F. Y. (2019). The Effects of Low-Fidelity Music and Font Style on Recall. Experiment Findings. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.31182.41286
Flores, R. A. (2021). The Effects of Music Genre on Scores in Different Exam Types: A Pilot Study. Kwantlen Psychology Student Journal, 3, 86–97. https://kora.kpu.ca/islandora/object/kora%3A677/datastream/PDF/view
How Lo-Fi Music Can Help You Study | BestColleges. (n.d.). BestColleges.com. https://www.bestcolleges.com/blog/lofi-music-study/
Inion, K. A., Mondejar, M. E., & Sengson, K. I. (2022). Determining Effective Music Genres for Focus and Academic Performance of MCN Senior High School Students. 21st Century Learning and Innovations (CLI). https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/conf_shsrescon/2022/poster_cli/6/
Kirk, U., Ngnoumen, C., Clausel, A., & Purvis, C. K. (2021). Effects of Three Genres of Focus Music on Heart Rate Variability and Sustained Attention. Journal of Cognitive Enhancement, 6(2), 143–158. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41465-021-00226-3
Seppala, T. (2018, July 23). The science behind the “beats to study to” craze. Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/2018-07-23-the-science-behind-beats-to-study-to.html
Vaughn College. (2021, October 25). Studying to Low Fidelity (Lo-Fi) Music Gets High Marks with Students. https://www.vaughn.edu/blog/studying-to-lo-fidelity-lo-fi-music-gets-high-marks-with-students/
View of Beats to Relax/Study To: Contradiction and Paradox in Lofi Hip Hop. (n.d.). https://iaspmjournal.net/index.php/IASPM_Journal/article/view/949/pdf_1
Wikipedia contributors. (2022, November 10). Lofi hip hop. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lofi_hip_hop
