Music is the third wheel in relationships with over 55
% of the UK
agreeing that listening to music improves their sexual experiences.
Global music streaming service Deezer has released the
findings of a report looking at the impact that music has in the bedroom.
Carried out in collaboration with international sex, body language and
relationships expert Tracey Cox, ‘The Aphro-Deezer-ac Report’ has revealed how
music plays a key role in sex and how people use music to find their own
‘bedroom flow’.
In response to these findings, Deezer is encouraging music
fans in South Africa
to experiment with music in the bedroom using its signature feature Deezer
Flow, which, based on a unique algorithm, which combines users’ favourite songs
with new recommendations to create the perfect personalised soundtrack.
Over half 55 % of those who took part in the study said that
listening to music while having sex improves the experience. A fifth 19 % claim
it makes them more aroused, a further 17 % felt that it makes things less
awkward and 16 percent said it simply makes sex better.
Interestingly, nearly a quarter of males 18 % claimed music
makes sex last longer, but only 9 percent of women agreed with this statement.
Almost half 47 % felt that rhythm was the key factor in music’s ability to
improve sex, followed by the tone of voice of the artist 43 % and melody of the
track 37 %.
Tracey Cox, international sex, body language and
relationships expert supported these findings, commenting: “Neuroscientists
have found that most people respond more to a beat when it’s played by lower
pitched instruments. Physiologically, people’s bodies love deep bass sounds,
which, if loud enough, also produce vibration, making it powerfully arousing.”
Deezer’s findings suggested that music has overtaken
traditional habits like drinking red wine with 21 % listening to music compared
to 13 percent who drank spirits and 9 % who
ate chocolate.
The key tracks used to set the mood were identified as
Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On, Rihanna’s sexy hit Skin and Lil Wayne’s track
Lollipop. Hand in hand with this, Saturday night from 10pm to midnight was
found to be the prime time to get under those bedsheets.
READ: Cancer burden in South Africa
Identifying the relationship between time of day and the
songs people choose to get intimate to, Deezer’s own analytics found that
streams of Let’s Get It On increased by a whopping 96 % on Saturdays compared
to earlier in the week. Similarly, Rihanna’s track Skin also saw an increase of
23 % on Saturday nights compared to Mondays and Tuesdays.
Cox said: “Music is a
powerful, potent aphrodisiac, so I’m not surprised so many Brits find it
improves their sexual experiences. Listening to music causes our brain to flood
with dopamine, the pleasure hormone. The same thing happens when we’re getting
intimate, so it effectively puts our bodies “in the mood”. There’s scientific
proof that music is a mood enhancer in the bedroom – but the wrong song can
have the opposite effect.”
When it comes to the most popular genres to get down to,
Pop, R&B and Rock topped the ‘turn on’ list. But the head-banging of Heavy
Metal doesn’t translate to the bedroom, with two fifths or 40 % of those polled
picking this as the biggest turn off, closely followed by Rap at 35 %.
It’s no surprise that Marvin Gaye also claimed the number
one spot for voices most likely to get Brits in the mood, with his sultry tones
securing 12 % of the vote, pipping both Michael Buble at 10 % and Lionel Richie
at 9 % to the post.
This was again reflected in Deezer’s own playlist data,
which showed that streams of Marvin Gaye increased by a third or 33 percent on
average each Saturday night, cementing his position as the king of ‘sexy time’.
Deezer’s head of editorial and content, Roman Tagoe, said:
“With over half of people claiming that music has a direct impact on sexual
performance, there is clearly a natural synergy between music and sex – as both
allow people to lose their inhibitions and discover feelings. Created by people
who love music, Deezer Flow identifies and recommends music to suit your
personal tastes, meaning when you’re looking to get “in the mood”, you can rely
on us to get things right.”
On the other end of the scale, Bieber has well and truly
topped the flops, with two fifths or 39 percent claiming his music puts them
off sex. Kanye West and Eminem also need to do more to ‘hot up’ their tracks,
with over a third claiming they would skip their music mid-flow.