Motivations for using music for sleep: insights from YouTube comments

Research suggests that sleep music should be soft, calm, and with minimal pitch and dynamic changes. However, recent studies show that some people use loud and energetic pop songs as sleep aids, challenging traditional views on sleep music. This could be due to people’s various motivations for using music to help them sleep, such as improving one’s mood, distracting oneself, or relaxing. To investigate the link between sleep music motivations and musical characteristics, we analyzed YouTube comments on music for sleep in single-tracks and compilation-tracks, a collection of many different music pieces stuck together. There were significantly more sleep terms for calm than for energetic single-tracks. For compilations-tracks, Sleep- and Relax-related comments were associated with having no melody, slower tempo, fewer than 5 instruments, and a repetitive structure. Conversely, Distract- and Mood- related comments were linked to music with higher dynamic variation and more than 5 instruments. This suggests that the type of music chosen for sleep varies based on individual motivations. While calm music aligns with relaxation, more energetic music could suit those seeking distraction or mood regulation, highlighting the importance of considering listener motivation in sleep-related music interventions.