The effect of electronic music on the focus and energy levels of players

Have you ever noticed the effect music has on our lives? Sometimes it helps us stay calm and collected, sometimes it energizes us enough to stay up late and dance the night away, and sometimes it brings up old memories and nostalgia. Music also has profound healing power. Undoubtedly, researchers have found that different types of music have varying effects on our brain, releasing certain chemicals that impact our overall mood, emotions, behaviours, and even actions.

What is electronic music?

Electronic music is generated through synthesizers, samplers, or other electronic devices instead of real musical instruments. It is primarily characterized by heavily rhythmic sounds, beats played on repeat, and the bassline’s rise and drop. In recent times, electronic music has made a comeback in clubs and music festivals and is also used by corporations like malls, stores, online gaming, etc. Many online gaming platforms use electronic music to affect the players’ minds, energy levels, and actions. Let’s find out how.

Before we delve deeper into how electronic music affects a player, let’s first understand how music affects our brains.

How the human brain processes music

The human brain has many parts that process the music that we listen to. Electronic music, or music in general, has rhythm, pitch, tone, tempo, emotion, and many components processed by different parts of our brain. Music’s tone, pitch, and volume are processed in our brain’s auditory cortex. This part, then, sends this information to other brain parts like the amygdala, hippocampus, cerebellum, etc. All these parts collectively process different parts of music and create a whole sensory experience that affects the listener’s mood, energy levels, and actions.

When the auditory cortex processes music, its information reaches the amygdala, releasing dopamine. Dopamine is the chemical that makes us feel happy. It’s often called the ‘feel-good hormone’. It increases in our body when anticipating a reward, like winning a game or lottery or feeling a deep emotional connection with someone.

Electronic music and its effect on the brain

Electronic music has several genres that evoke a range of emotions in the listeners. There’s techno, dubstep, trance, ambient music, EDM (Electronic Dance Music), and many more. Some of these genres can evoke deep emotions of peace, while others can energize crowds on the dance floor.

This quality has been used by corporations and gaming companies, casinos, online casinos, among others. If you go to a mall, supermarket, or even a bar, there’s a strong chance that you’ll find rhythmic techno music being played in the background.

Corporations know that this music has a neurological effect on people, so they carefully choose the music to boost their sales. For example, a specific type of upbeat electronic music can attract many customers inside a casino, while another kind of electronic music might keep them at a poker table. In online casinos, the background gaming music might play the same role of keeping the player hooked, regulating his/her energy levels through rhythmic beats to play the game more.

Effect of electronic music on the brain

One of the most dominant dance music characteristics is repetitive patterns and rhythmically pulsating beats and bass drops. All these traits have a substantial effect on the listener. Multiple research papers have stated that the rhythms in the human brain and the rhythms in music are deeply related. Electronic music is based on a solid sense of rhythms, often sequenced in loops to be played repeatedly.

The background music in Indian casino sites impacts profits and overall business growth by affecting the players’ minds and decision-making abilities. Here are a few effects that different type of electronic music has on players:

• Focus: The more a player focuses on the game, the more the casino benefits. Downtempo electronic music can work its magic for this purpose. It helps the player focus while they are betting and playing. When their undivided attention is on the game, they are less likely to think about leaving the online game or the casino.
• Energy levels: Up-tempo electronic music helps keep the energy levels of the players high. When listening to music having a higher tempo, faster rhythm, and stronger beats, the players’ energy levels will stay up. Increased energy levels of players translate to more games played, which means more business.
• Anticipation: The game’s thrill causes anticipation in the brain, which releases the happiness-inducing dopamine in the player. The rise and fall of rhythm in electronic music can replicate the feeling of building anticipation and producing dopamine. Most EDM tracks follow the same pattern of building up a beat, which imitates suspense and thrill in the brain. When the beat drops, the brain releases the happy chemical.
• Emotional rise: Constant rising and falling of emotions during a game can also keep a player hooked. The rhythmic rise and fall of beats in electronic music mirror the rise and fall of emotions in the player’s mind. This cycle keeps the player engrossed.

Music is capable of regulating a person’s emotions and feelings. It can also affect one’s energy and focus levels. The background music in Indian online casinos has embraced electronic music, which helps keep the player focused and energized while they play.

Image Credit: Elice Moore on Unsplash