For this week on Spotify, I decided to switch from my playlist to looking into the artist section. When I searched Bruno Mars, I noticed what his top 5 songs were. In order from first to last: “Die With a Smile”, “When I Was Your Man”, “Locked out of Heaven”, “Just the Way Your Are”, and “That’s What I Like”. Though I personally like each of these songs I wonder if I agree with the list based on popularity. I will dissect each song to determine this.

​The song taking the number 1 spot, at no surprise to me, was “Die With a Smile”. I am not surprised that this is his most popular song on Spotify because it is sort of viral at the moment.This is the latest release by the artist alongside Lady Gaga. This is without a doubt a love song, as are many of Mars’ songs. In the song he is letting his love know that they are who he wants until the end. The chorus starts with “If the world was ending, I’d wanna be next to you”. He emphasizes this point by adding “So I’ma love you every night like it’s the last night”. This is one song I cannot manage to skip every time I hear it play.

​The number 2 spot is held by “When I Was Your Man”. This song is one of his more depressing songs in my opinion because it is about a lost love instead of a present one. The piano music creates an almost haunting, melancholic vibe that prepares the audience for the sad words accompanying it.Whenever I have this song play on my playlist it puts me in a sad mood, almost to the verge of tears. It is relatable because I can imagine we have all at a time in our lives let a love get away. He closes the song saying “Do all the things I should have done/ When I was your man”, referencing the current partner of his lost love.

​Number 3 is “Locked out of Heaven”. When I think of Bruno Mars this is not the first song to come to mind, however, I know the iconic chorus word for word. This is one of Mars’ more upbeat songs. The rhythm is one to make the audience get up and dance with its noticeable drums and guitar. From what I can decipher Mars is pleading with his presumable partner to stay because it is a feeling he wants to maintain. He says “Can I just stay here? Spend the rest of my days here” repeatedly, letting the listeners and the partner know he means it. This is not a Mars song that I usually listen to and that I reflected in the fact that it is not in any of my playlists.

​The number 4 spot belongs to “Just the Way You Are”. I am actually surprised by this ranking because it is one of the songs I would list when asked about Mars’ discography. In this song Mars’ is discussing his partner again and all the things he loves about her. Giving meaning to the name “Just the Way You Are”, he continues to dedicate the song to his partner and says “When I see your face, there’s not a thing that I would change”. This happens to be one of the few songs by Mars that I know word for word. I would typically would put this song on a playlist centering the idea of love.

​The last spot in the top 5 list is for “That’s What I Like”. This is another ranking I am surprised by but not as much as the number 4 ranking. As we have noted a trend in Mars’ work, this song is also about a presumed partner. The song is essentially an invitation to the partner to join him in his lifestyle so that he can shower her with what he has to offer. He maintains the idea that“You deserve it baby, you deserve it all/ And I’m gonna give it to you”. This is another one of his upbeat, happier sounding songs. This is the type of song that I would listen to when I am in a good mood.

​Now all of this being said, do I agree with the ranking? I would say that I agree with the ranking of the top 2 spots only. I would shift “Locked out of Heaven” to the number 5 spot, making “Just the Way You Are” number 3 and “That’s What I Like” number 4. Though I did not agree with the current ranking, it did remind me of my love for Bruno Mars’ music- those songs in particular.

Written by: Ta’Liyah Wiley

Is Thriller Still Thrilling over 40 Years Later?

With the spooky season approaching we know that Halloween songs will start to plague all forms of media. These songs that go viral every year are not new songs; however, they are older ones being recycled for the occasion. One of the many songs I can’t wait to hear is “Thriller” by Michael Jackson but that brings into question, is the song still a sensation or is it time to retire it?

The near 6-minute song by Jackson is coupled with the famous near 14-minute music video of the artist “dancing with the dead” in his red two piece outfit. Before the musical elements come into play, we see Jackson on a date with his girlfriend and revealing his true identity as a werewolf to her. He ends up chasing her through the woods and eventually catches up to her. At this moment it is revealed that the actual Michael Jackson is on a date at the movies with his girlfriend and they were just watching a film.

The music starts off with eerie sounds of howling that are then interrupted by the upbeat rhythm we all know once we hear it. We can see Jackson and his girlfriend walking in the street as he simultaneously dances until they reach their destination. As the video progresses, the couple passes a cemetery where the dead rise from the ground and surround them. Jackson and his girlfriend appear to be trapped when the video transitions into him being a zombie himself. This is where the notable choreographed flash mob takes place. Once Michael begins to sing again, we see him back in his human form, continuing to dance. 

As the video draws to a close, Michael’s girlfriend seeks solace in an abandoned house but to no avail. The zombies find her and approach her but the viewer is in for another surprise. The home is not actually abandoned, and the girlfriend is not in danger. It is once Michael offers to take her home that he pans to the camera to reveal that the girl is in fact not safe as she once thought.

Now why does this matter? It matters because even though I know the song and the plot of the video I still sat down to watch all 14 minutes of it. This shows that the video and song is not in danger of getting old not simply because of the artist who made it, but because of the song being an iconic piece of popular culture. I did not feel inclined to skip any portion of the video but I did feel the urge to get up and do the flash mob dance. My response to the song is the same as it has been since I have first heard it, demonstrating its ability to live on for decades to come.

But is this response just my own? NO! McIntyre states that the song “Jakson’s creepy favorite lands at No. 7 on Billboard’s list of the bestselling R&B-only tracks throughout the country.” The article also talks about how the song has been on the sales list 67 times since its first release. Not only is the song “Thriller” getting traction but so is the album it belongs to. It is also said that “When adjusted for inflation, Thriller remains the highest-grossing album in history.” (Hansen).

Works Cited

Hansen, Rachel. “Thriller Record: Michael Jackson’s Groundbreaking Album Still Thrilling Today” SoundScapeHQ. SoundScapeHQ. Sept. 25, 2024. Retrieved from < https://soundscapehq.com/michael-jackson-thriller-record/> Accessed 3 Oct. 2024.

McIntyre, Hugh. “Michael Jackson’s Annual ‘Thriller’ Comeback Has Begun”. Forbes. Forbes Media LLC. Sept. 25, 2024. Retrieved from <https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2024/09/25/michael-jacksons-annual-thriller-comeback-has-begun/>Accessed 3 Oct. 2024.

Written by: Ta’Liyah Wiley

This is one of my favorite stories to tell about the band. This is how it all started, the group coming together and finding a sound of our own, and a bond that I now cherish. The story begins with a project for a music class at the Harrisburg Area Community College. All of us were attending HACC for an Associate's degree in Music Business. In our one class for promotion and publishing, Nicki and I were put into a group for a project on writing a jingle. We decided to write a quick blurb for HACC’s music club. 

We went to the “music room” and began brainstorming melodies and ideas. Nicki played around on the guitar strings until he came up with a riff that sounded catchy and upbeat. I quickly jotted down in my notebook behind the other group members, rhyming lyrics and words. Justin just so happened to be in the music room at the same time, and provided us a backbeat to use while we practiced the short tune. 

From that collaboration, Nicki and I began talking and sharing music ideas. I can remember the moment that he sent me the guitar part for our first song, “After My Broken Heart”. I was sitting at my kitchen table with a bowl of soup and began writing the lyrics right there with a spoonful of chicken noodle. I had performed before with a partner, but we were just doing covers or working on songs that they were making. I also didn’t play an instrument besides singing, so I was beyond excited to be able to write my own lyrics and melodies to Nicki’s songs.

After that, Nicki and I began visiting the music room more often, where we officially met Justin and Blake. At first, we thought Blake hated us, but we soon realized that he just had a “resting bitch face”. Anyways, we would jam out together whenever we met up at HACC. Our jam sessions then moved to Justin's homemade amateur studio in his basement. We began taking the songwriting seriously and recording demos of what we were coming up with.

From there, the rest is history. We tried to work as best as we could while COVID started to spread around the world. In the fall of 2021, we had our first ever performance at Millersville’s music venue, Phantom Power. We released our EP “Seasons Changing”, along with our 2023 Album release “Nobody Knows”. 

The band has been together for about 5 years now, and we hope to continue jamming out, writing and releasing songs, and growing as a group with our fans. We appreciate everyone that has helped us and supports us in our musical journey. You never know what opportunities could happen from a simple project.  

Written by Sierra Englehart

Over the summer of 2024 the nation was focused on a rap beef we did not see coming- Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar. In the rap beef both artists went song for song to diss each other. When this first took over social media I did not listen to any of the songs unless they had gone viral on Tik Tok. This is my first time listening to all the songs related to the beef in order.

The song that started it all was “First Person Shooter” by Drake with J. Cole featuring. The song was very tame in my opinion but the clear verse that got Lamar’s attention was “We the big three”. When J Cole said this line he was referencing himself, Drake and Kendrick Lamar. Lamar clearly showed his dissatisfaction in the song “Like That” alongside Future and Metro Boomin’. He directly addresses the song by Drake and Cole and says that the big three does not exist and that “it’s just big me”. I prefer the beat of “Like That” and as a first-time listener didn’t expect a response to be given to Lamar’s. However, the songs just kept coming.

The next songs were “Push Ups” and “Taylor Made Freestyle”, both by Drake. The significance of Drake’s songs in response to Lamar lies within the fact that they were released back-to-back. He did not allow Lamar the time to respond and even criticizes him for not replying yet. In “Push Ups” he even disses Metro Boomin’. The song itself has a catchy beat that I did not expect to hear. “Taylor Made Freestyle” took me by surprise though is that he takes the time to shout out Taylor Swift as an artist. It made the name make sense.

In response to Drake’s double diss Kendrick decided to release his own. Those songs were “Euphoria” and “6:16 in Los Angeles”.  “Euphoria” is essentially a warning to Drake that Kendrick was willing to keep the beef on friendly terms unless he wanted to go that route. The irony is that Kendrick follows this with the lyrics “I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk, I hate the way that you dress” and called Drake “crodie”. Again it can be seen as lighthearted fun but then “6:16 in Los Angeles” continues to go after Drake’s character by calling him a liar. This to me is on the lighthearted side still but the cover image acts as a warning as well. I remember when the song first grew to popularity in the spring that it was the image used as the cover being the topic of discussion because it confirmed that Kendrick indeed knew more than he let on.

The next three songs I would note them as the beginning of the end. Those are “Family Matters”, -Drake- “Meet the Grahams”and “Not Like Us” – both by Kendrick. I believe these to be the beginning of the end because of the power behind the messages in the songs as well as how viral Kendrick’s last response was. In “Family Matters” Drake responds with a seven minute long song but the other two songs caught mine and the world’s attention. Going into listening to these songs “Meet the Grahams” and “Not Like Us” were the only ones that I had heard before. Both gave its listeners shocking information and memorable beats.

Now why does any of this matter? It matters because my feelings about the rap beef has changed upon hearing the lyrics. I am not as invested as I was before- which is surprising because I did not listen to majority of the songs back then. I think that the virality of the beef definitely influenced my investment months ago but now the beef is an afterthought in my mind unless its in reference to “Not Like Us” In this case I would say that the rap beef did not get better with time but it does mark a significant time in rap history.

Written by Ta'Liyah Wiley

Music has been a part of human culture for as long humans have been around. According to the Smithsonian, humans have been making music for at least 35,000 years. Music and people go hand in hand. Music performed by early humans served a communal purpose as it brought people together. So in the modern era of cities and towns, local music scenes have carried on the tradition. Local bands and artists are an integral part to an area’s culture and vibe, so it is important that people do what they can to support local music.

So what can be done to support local musicians? While there is actually a plethora of things that can help a local act. Arguably the biggest thing one can do is take time out of their day to listen to the music of a local artist or band. This shows that the music is valued and isn’t falling on deaf ears.

But if one wants to take their support to the next level, then there is more that can be done. Firstly, engaging with a local musician’s post on social media by commenting and liking will help the algorithms push the music to more people. Also, social media algorithms like when posts get immediate engagement, so it is good to engage with posts as soon as possible. Another big thing is to go to the live shows of local artists. This will allow for that communal aspect of music to shine. Not only does this financially support the artist or band (depending on the venue), but it will also allow members of the local community to enjoy music together. Not to mention that live shows tend to have official merch that goes directly towards supporting the performers. Also wearing the shirt out in public will advertise the artist to anyone who notices the shirt. Though even if someone doesn’t enjoy live music, sharing the music with friends is great at helping the artist. A little micro fan club amongst friends is a little community of its own.

As a final note, it is important to mention websites like Bandcamp and Artcore. These platforms allow fans to outright buy music from artists either in a physical or digital capacity. What’s nice about these platforms is that they don’t take huge cuts from any sales on their platforms. They also allow users to listen to any music on the platform for free. This does a good job of not gatekeeping music behind a paywall. Fans are only paying for physical versions of albums and downloads.

Written by Lucas Cardinale

Listening to music while working on a task is a common way for people to try and focus on getting things done. Still, could listening to different styles of music enhance or inhibit our productivity? In this article, we’ll be taking a look at three different genres of music and see whether or not they have a positive effect on one’s productivity.

Classical Music

It has long been theorized that classical music is directly linked to improvements in productivity and various other cognitive functions. This idea is connected to a broader theory dubbed The Mozart effect, an unproven theory claiming listening to Mozart’s compositions leads to a temporary boost in IQ. While listening to classical music in particular is proven to increase dopamine levels in the brain, the theory that classical music is directly linked to increased productivity is largely unproven with little evidence to support it. That being said, however, many people find the complex and elaborate nature of classical music to be the stimulation they need to complete tasks efficiently, especially when considering that classical music typically does not have lyrics. To conclude, classical music is a great choice for those who want to complete tasks with a bit of external stimulation to aid them.

Jazz Music

While there isn’t much academic research to back up the link between jazz and productivity other than the fact that it activates the same parts of the brain, many people consider jazz music to be perfect for concentration for a wide range of reasons. This is in large part due to jazz’s improvised nature making every performance a new experience of sorts, keeping the listener engaged in the music while simultaneously being in the background. This is also due to jazz’s expansive and versatile sound. Some people prefer to complete tasks with the frantic, lightning-fast improvisation and complex harmonies of bebop whereas others may prefer a much more laid-back and calmer sound found in cool jazz records. All in all, jazz is one of the most ideal genres to use as music to boost your productivity.

Electronic Music

While it may come as a surprise to some, electronic music may have a positive effect on productivity. The primary reason for this is likely that a lot of electronic music has a simple and repetitive beat that allows listeners to subconsciously register the music as background noise. Adding onto this, electronic music typically has simple and repetitive melodies that layer on top of each other, creating this overall hypnotic feel that makes it easy to have on in the background without getting distracted by it. Much like jazz, the specific style may or may not play a role in boosting one’s productivity as well. While some may find the thumping, four-on-the-floor rhythms of house and techno the perfect compliment to their work, some may prefer the louder, more abrasive sounds of trap and dubstep. All in all, while it is a more unorthodox choice, electronic music is a great choice in terms of genres that allow people to be more productive and focus more on a task.

Subjectivity

Different types of music’s ability to aid you in the completion of a task is largely based on your personality and the music you naturally gravitate towards. More introverted and reserved types might have an easier time listening to jazz and classical while working whereas people who are more extroverted and outgoing might find electronic music much more tolerable while working. In a similar vein, your emotional state at the moment could be an influence on the type of music you may prefer when completing a task. Another important factor when it comes to how your productivity is affected by music is the complexity of a given task. Whereas we might have an easier time having background music for tasks we deem as easy and familiar, we might be much more hesitant when it comes to a task that is either much more challenging or unfamiliar and ambiguous. To sum up, subjectivity and our own biases play a major role in how different music affects our productivity.

Conclusion

In a general sense, all sorts of evidence prove listening to music in the background can provide a boost in productivity; however, specific genres have not been definitively proven to be better at affecting productivity. While certain genres are typically associated with more productive and focused work, much of it is based on our personal preferences going beyond music. To conclude, music is one of the most powerful ways in which we express our feelings and connect with others and the fact that different kinds of music can affect our productivity based on our identities is proof of that.

Work Cited

Chamorro‐Premuzic, T., & Furnham, A. (2007). Personality and music: Can traits explain how people use music in everyday life? British Journal of Psychology, 98(2), 175–185. https://doi.org/10.1348/000712606x111177

 Premuzic, T. C. (2022, September 13). Can music make you more productive?. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2022/09/can-music-make-you-more-productive

Written by Jordan Nawrocki

Music, a universal language that transcends borders and cultures, impacts more than just enjoyment, playing a vital role in mental health and emotions. In this article, we will examine the many complex ways music can affect psychological health and emotional states. Specifically, we will cover the effects of melodies and rhythms as powerful associations and tools for emotional regulation, stress reduction, and mental health management.

The Therapeutic Benefits of Music

1. Emotion Expression and Processing

Music acts as a profound avenue for emotion expression and emotion processing. Whether one is feeling hopeless listening to a slow-paced ballad, finding victory while listening to a dance song, or feeling in love listening and performing a song for a partner, music provides a safe space to articulate and monitor one's feelings. According to studies, listening to music can increase emotion awareness and help one's ability to identify emotions. This is especially important for inducing a sense of self-awareness often lacking in mental health disorders associated with depression or anxiety.

 2. Stress Reduction

One of the most prominent effective benefits of music is stress reduction. Research has reported that listening to calming music can lower cortisol levels, the stress hormone. Classical music has a calming effect on the nervous system, and enhances stress relief, by inducing the relaxation response and managing physical consequences of stressors. Music may reduce stress levels associated with everyday life, while producing feelings associated with calmness or peacefulness.

3. Improving Cognitive Function

Additional research suggests that music therapy has positive functions on cognitive function. Specifically, music can positively impact memory and concentration. Individuals with neurological disorders such as dementia and Alzheimer's disease benefit significantly from listening to music. Listening to music evokes memories and enhances cognition. The rhythmic and melodic features of music activate different areas of the brain, which can help with memory retrieval as well as cognitive functioning. Cognitive functions are also engaged through listening to music and can also improve tasking when focusing on tasks through attention.

Music as a Means of Mental Health Management

1. Regulation of Effect:

The influence of music on mood is well-recognized and established. Up-tempo and lively music can improve mood and lead to feelings of elation, while slower and reflective music can help sooth depression and despair. Music can also serve as an outlet to help people achieve affect regulation—selected in accordance with the current affect flavor, someone can use music while also providing a certain degree of comfort and stability.

2. Connectedness

Music, as a rule, connects individuals and can motivate groups, being a uniquely social experience. Collective participation in music activities, such as a choir, can be utilized to combat loneliness and isolation. For individuals suffering from mental health issues, social interactions involving music can address emotional pain, diminish feelings of isolation, and substantially improve well-being.

3. Coping Strategy:

Music can also be a complimentary coping strategy for individuals dealing with difficult feelings and challenging circumstances. Engaging in making music or listening to favorite songs can provide caretaking behavior during difficult emotional periods. For example, composing and creating music promotes one's feelings to be manifested in a creative process, whereas listening to a familiar song can be uplifting and nurturing. Integrating music into everyday living. In order to tap into music's benefits for mental health, you have to thoughtfully integrate music into your daily living. Here are a few simple, practical suggestions:

Develop custom listening lists: Create listening lists that can address your emotional needs. Use calming genres such as classical or ambient music for relaxation. Use upbeat genres such as pop and rock for stimulated energy and motivation.

Practice focused listening: Take some time to listen to music purposely, focusing on given melodies, rhythms, or lyrics. This facilitates enhanced emotional awareness and emotionally engages you towards connected emotion or feeling. Making music may be infinitely rewarding: Making music through singing it, playing it on an instrument or writing songs, it is all cathartic, validating, and rewarding personally. Music-making can provide an imagination and creativity outlet and can support general mental well-being.

Join an activity that gathers people around music-making: Science has shown that when people make music together the social, emotional, and hefty bonding occurs. This again as the emotional aspects quoted in this post contribute to social connectivity.

Conclusion

As explained in "What Music?" above, there is a tremendous diversity in the extent of music's positive benefits or effects in emotional health/well-being. 

For example: emotional as it helps affords either engagement of emotional expression or reduction of affect; thereby altering anxiety's cognitive advantages or processing of music, and lastly, as a social connection. In any case there is unquestionably strength in a person's treatment' with music's given installed restorative value. If music can be absorbed through listening, creating, or engaged in both it would provide any music the opportunity to provide healing characteristics to a person's mental health. As appears with any treatment-based health-care plan, music can only contribute to the overall effectiveness to wellness for any of us.

Sources

"The Effects of Music on the Human Stress Response" by K. A. Thoma and colleagues. This study explores the impact of music on physiological stress responses. 

"Music and Emotion: Theory and Research by Patrik N. Juslin and John A. Sloboda. The article reviews theories and research on how music elicits affective responses.

"Music as Medicine: The Impact of Healing Harmonies by David H. Rosenfeld.

This study examines music therapy as a therapeutic modality. 

Written by Manpreet Gill

No matter what time you look at history, promoting yourself as a musician has always been difficult. It used to be through methods like payola that artists would increase their popularity. Now with the popularity of streaming services, it has never been more difficult for local artists to promote themselves. However, as fans we are able to help our favorite artists get the recognition that they deserve. The first and most important thing you can do to support local artists is to attend their local shows. If a local artist is able to draw in a large crowd, then it is likely to catch the attention of people higher up in the industry which will provide them with more opportunities to grow. Additionally, buying merch and physical records from local artists is another great way to support them. Merch is one of the revenue streams that artists are able to profit off of the most. The more merch they are able to sell the more resources that they will be able to afford to help get more exposure. An even easier way to support local artists is to spread the word about their music. It is impossible for music to get popular without reaching a wide audience. Because of that, even telling two or three people about a local artist could be enough to create some buzz for them. Of course, this is not an exhaustive list and there are countless ways to support your favorite local artists. Just remember that next time you think about how your favorite artist doesn’t get the recognition they deserve, you can do more for them than you think.

Written by Chas Hall

We have released our first ever music video for our song “The Sun Has Vanished” off of our recently released album ‘Nobody Knows’. 

This music video was all DIY with the help of Cameron Heisey and Andrew Ross (a big thank you to those guys!) The locations for all the different scenes were shot in Harrisburg, PA. We hope you enjoy and have as much fun watching it as we did making it! <3

Video Credits: 

Directed by: Cameron Heisey and Andrew Ross 

DP: Cameron Heisey Edited by: Cameron Heisey 

PA: Jose Navarro