A Beginner's Guide to "Slow Music"
We're familiar with concepts like "Slow Fashion" and "Regenerative Agriculture"; what if we applied these mindful, more connective ideas to how we consume our music?
As I sit here typing this post, I’m head-to-toe in, so they say, sustainably minded clothing. Tencel shirt, pants. I’ve got a reusable water bottle in front of me and my coffee is from a sustainable, fair-trade source. Overall, these days, it’s commonplace to know where to look if you want to make more sustainable choices for your fashion and your food, methods commonly referred to as ‘slow’ as they’re more impactful and less wasteful than their ‘fast’ counterparts.
But if you aren’t already involved somehow in the music industry, I’d imagine it’s less obvious how one can apply these choices to how music consumption.
So, allow this music industry human to give you a quick guide to how you can start to work “slow music” into your life! First we’ll tackle the ‘why’, then we’ll get into the ‘how.
The ‘why’ is top of mind for me for several reasons, the most recent being this brilliant article by Ted Gioia, The Honest Broker.
The quickest way to explain the music business side is that in our current state, with the majority of music is being consumed by streaming, the money made from that recorded music flows to the streaming companies, meaning the tech industry, not the music industry that is investing in the recording. Recorded music is essentially a marketing investment for artists these days, with most revenue coming from touring and merch.
It is an open loop, which as we know from agriculture, is bad for the sustainability of the ecosystem overall. Eventually, the funding source will be depleted.
A quick note here about the environmental sustainability of streaming, vs the business sustainability (though the relationship between environmental sustainability and music deserves a more comprehensive article than I think I can get away with here!). Sarah Griffiths of The BBC reports -
Streaming and downloading music also has an impact. Rabih Bashroush, a researcher at the University of East London and lead scientist at the European Commission-funded Eureca project, calculated that five billion plays clocked up by just one music video – the hit 2017 song Despacito – consumed as much electricity as Chad, Guinea-Bissau, Somalia, Sierra Leone and the Central African Republic put together in a single year. “The total emissions for streaming that song could be over 250,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide,” he says.
The second aspect of the ‘why’ that makes Slow Music important is the fact that intentional music consumption is simply better for you.
The beautiful thing about intentional art is it often is dripping in story, no matter the genre. If the song isn’t a story song, the artist has a story, and that’s something to connect with and feel nourished by—that is, you become aware of a larger connection and shared humanity.
Even better, connecting to music gives us both that way to tap into the universality of human experience and measurable medical benefits.
The Greater Good Science Center out of UC Berkeley recently shared a bit about what the music nonprofit world has been shouting from the rooftops for years -
Neuroscientists have discovered that listening to music heightens positive emotion through the reward centers of our brain, stimulating hits of dopamine that can make us feel good, or even elated. Listening to music also lights up other areas of the brain—in fact, almost no brain center is left untouched—suggesting more widespread effects and potential uses for music.
Music’s neurological reach, and its historic role in healing and cultural rituals, has led researchers to consider ways music may improve our health and wellbeing. In particular, researchers have looked for applications in health-care…In some cases, music’s positive impacts on health have been more powerful than medication.
As they mention in its historic role in healing and cultural rituals, music is as old as we are as a species, and absolutely intrinsic to our existence.
This is all well and good until you combine this human truth with the current state of the music industry, and then zoom out to the larger culture.
As Ted Gioia breaks down in the article above, the real money maker for those aforementioned tech companies is ‘distraction’, which is just a nicer way of saying a ‘dopamine addiction’. Think algorithm-created playlists on loop without thought in the background, the prevalence of bite-sized song snippets on TikTok; by adapting the real scientific benefits of music to a norm of distraction addiction, our culture is being driven to one of shallow over-consumption of music.
With all this in mind, we can also consider that when we’re over-consuming anything, we burn out, especially those dopamine receptors. Ted connects it all to a terrifying new reality -
Here’s where the science gets really ugly. The more addicts rely on these stimuli, the less pleasure they receive. At a certain point, this cycle creates anhedonia—the complete absence of enjoyment in an experience supposedly pursued for pleasure.
Or, the cycle creates minds that consume music and fail to be effected by its benefits of connection, healing, or inspiration.
And back to the BBC -
…Hazas points out that some YouTube views are unintentional. A study led by his colleague Kelly Widdicks analysed streaming habits and found that some viewers use YouTube as background noise, and sometimes even fall asleep, generating carbon for no gain. Cutting back on these uses or stopping video from playing unintentionally on an open browser when you are not watching, could help keep your carbon footprint down.
Honorable mention here, though, for some of us who need background like that to focus—it’s all about finding which aspects of more mindful consumption you can integrate and which are necessities.
This all reminds me very clearly of the relationship between the solution, sustainable agriculture, and the twin problems of climate change and nutrition.
We know our food systems are in dire need of a way to keep soil fertile and minimize impact on the planet’s warming, and we also desperately need food that will actually give us the vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, etc that our bodies need to function.
Just as irresponsible agriculture gives us food that is emptier in nutrients and more harmful to the ecosystem than a slower way of farming, “fast music” harms the industry by forcing a crushing demand of shorter-and-shorter, less unique and intentional content that I fear will over time numb us to something that is a bedrock of humanity.
Overall, we’re facing a moment wherein it’s vitally important for the continuation of the arts as we know them that their consumers begin to think critically about how they’re getting their art.
So, phew, let’s take a breath, I’ll calmly step off my soap box. You’ve convinced me, Steph! But where the heck does one start?
Down the Rabbit Hole of ‘Slow Music’
The first questions to self-reflect on in the back of your mind as you skim the rest of this article are - how deep are you willing to go? And what are the ways you know you’ll realistically be able to work this in?
No shame here either way. Remember, everything in moderation (including moderation!) helps us to make it a part of your life.
From here, I’ll be making a 1:1 comparison to how one consumes food in a more sustainably minded way with how one can apply the same thought processes to music.
We’ll start at the entry point - going to Big Box Grocery.
This is the closest equivalent of letting the streaming algorithms feed you.
As we’ve already pragmatically accepted, most of us consume and discover music this way. Maybe you’re one of us who is also rebuilding a vinyl collection (another big gulp when thinking about the environment, but hope is out there), but I’d bet you’ve still got your favorite streamer on standby for every other moment when you’re not sitting, intentionally taking in a full album. So-
What’s the equivalent of making “slower” choices at the Big Box Grocery? Step 1, of course, it do your research and intentionally choose your streaming service for how they treat creators and how responsibly they interact with the industry.
OK, you chose your platform, and we’re streaming. You’ve got your curated algorithm playlist on in the background, and a song catches your ear. Some melody yanks you in and you stop to see what it is and who made it. No way, it’s Aoife O’Donovan’s version of “Lakes of Pontchartrain”. Gorgeous! Now what?
Check out the rest of their music! Let the algorithm be your discovery tool, but then dig deeper.
Listen to the full album if there is one, go back to the rest of their catalogue, listen to the playlists they’ve curated themselves. Read their bio. Get the 411.
Maybe this was a one-off and you actually don’t love anything else they’ve made, how interesting! Either way, you now have a genre you can explore as a starting point and can use the algorithm in support of your rabbit hole-ing. Youtube is fun for this as well. You’re the taste-maker now.
The benefit here is that you’re being intentional. You’re noticing the music that connects to you and you’re beginning to take an active part in cultivating more. Feels good, right?
If you’re already a pro at working the algorithm, maybe you’re curious about going deeper than the Big Box Grocery.
You discover the Local Co-op.
All the food is coming from local farmers who are using slower, sustainable farming practices. The vibes are immaculate! This is amazing! Now let’s apply the Co-op level to music.
Where you’d start to notice and buy from a specific farm at the co-op, it can be as simple as following and interacting with that artist you’ve just dug into online or on the streaming services, especially if they’re a rising artist. Or spread the word in person, share your favorite tracks with a friend! In this attention economy, this way you’re voting with your ‘dollar’.
On the plus side, you can genuinely make a friend, especially if you find that artist on the rise who is still managing their own socials. I have screenshotted the rare notifications that a musician I admire has ‘followed me back’; nothing beats community that lights you up.
Looking beyond the artists; here, you find a music blogger or taste making site who shares in the handful of genres you dig. Maybe they’re even on your favorite streamer and you can follow THEIR playlists, rather than the algorithm. Groovy!
We’re still pragmatically streaming here, but we’re just now playing an even more active role in being aware of the curation of how we find our music, and supporting the larger music economy while we’re at it.
Following the Aoife O’Donovan example, perhaps you stumble upon the Youtube Channel for Western AF. Anytime they feature a new artist, chances are you’ll enjoy and can find someone new to dig into further.
OK, we’re hooked, you move beyond the Co-op.
We’re going straight to the Farm Stand or getting that CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Box.
This is all about direct consumption from the people making the things you love. They make a living off their art, and you get real, nourishing connections with creators who inspire you. Win/win!
Here, you can begin interacting more with platforms like Bandcamp, Patreon, or Substack. These sites can allow digital downloads (worth noting iTunes still does this as well, and yay for the less energy usage than streaming!), vinyl, or merch directly from the artists, or for you to simply pledge monetary support in exchange for perks and connection like the fan clubs of old.
For example - if you’re on Bandcamp and one of your favorite artists puts out a new vinyl, you can often purchase it right through there from them rather than from Big Box Grocery online store.
Another example - as a Patron of singer-songwriter Raye Zaragoza, I was able to listen to, vote for, and offer feedback on tracks she was considering including in her new album.
Go see them at shows! Stop at the merch table after if they’re hanging to say hello and thank you. Consider buying merch or a hard copy vinyl or CD if you can. Sign up for their email list. I can’t overestimate what any aspect of this does for us artists financially and emotionally.
Back to our Aoife O’Donovan example, for a top to bottom of this - I’d do some digging and find she’s about to release a new album, All My Friends. No way! Head to Bandcamp and one can pre-order the vinyl. Skim to her live dates, see there’s even a record release show and listening party at McCabe’s Guitar Shop in Santa Monica. That’s already so many incredible opportunities to connect and be fed by that real, good-good art just from a quick perusal.
The epitome of all this, of course, to get painfully realistic, is that if you’re in the Boulder, CO area you can literally support my favorite artist Gregory Alan Isakov by getting a CSA box from his farm. But you do you.
Whether you’re sticking Big Box or you’re already going straight to the Farm Stand, the possibilities for “Slow Music” consumption are endless.
Work in whatever makes sense for you. It’s worth it.
Your dopamine receptors live to function more healthily another day and you’re voting with your musical ‘dollar’ - your time, choice of consumption, and depth of interaction - in an intentional way.
Even if the business is slower to catch up, we can start doing what we can to close the open loop of the music industry on a micro level.
I know I’ve not come even CLOSE to beating this metaphor into the ground, so if you dear readers have any ideas about how one can work “slow music” into their lives, please share with the class below in the comments.
And remember, no shame, and everything in moderation, including moderation!
Another great article, Steph! You succeeded in educating the naive me...married to and a mother to musicians...a whole other world for this lady. Looking forward to trying out your suggestions!