Today is musical prodigy and composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 257th birthday. Take a look at some of this research, news, and innovation relating to music and health.
- In a 2009 study, researchers found that youth who listened to music with lyrics that presented sex in a degrading manner were more likely to engage in sexual activity earlier. A similar study from 2008 conducted a content analysis on pop music to determine how many lyrics presented degrading portrayals of sex.
- The editor of HuffPost Teen wrote an editorial on country-pop superstar Taylor Swift and the constant media attention given to her sexuality, dating habits, feminist identity, and more.
- Popular teen e-mag Rookie publishes a weekly playlist that will let you know what teen girls are feeling and how they use music to express it.
- You read in the news about record labels prosecuting individuals – often young people – for illegal downloading, so why do people do it? This study attempts to find out why.
- Many research studies in the past have focused on how music videos affect risk behaviors and health, like driving risks, body image, and sexual stereotypes.
- Lest we think that music has only bad or neutral affects on teens, take a look at this study on how listening to music can improve sleep quality and lower depression.
- Indie rock and children's literature collide in this new app, while singer Natalie Merchant's 2010 children's music record "Leave Your Sleep" has become a
picturebook illustrated by Barbara McClintock.
- Teenager Rebecca Black, of love-to-hate-it "Friday" fame, talks with Entertainment Weekly about her experiences of being dissed online and her new efforts to combat bullying.
Tell us about your child's experiences with music. Are piano lessons helping her achieve in school? Does he write his own songs or direct his own music videos?