63% of People Can’t Live Without Music. Are You One of Them?

“I can’t live without music!” Have you ever heard or said that statement? 63% of people can’t live without music. This article will show you whether you are one of them.

The average person can survive three minutes without air, three days without water, and forty days without food. How long can you survive without music?

Below are 10 statements that sum up why people can’t live without music. All ten may not apply to you – everyone is different, and music has a different appeal to each person. And each statement comes with five or ten bullet points to help you determine how true it is of you. Because we all enjoy music in different ways, some of the points may be contradictory.

So here is what to do. Read the list with a pen and paper. Every time you read a bullet point that is true of you, make a tally mark. At the end of the article, add up your tallies and read how to interpret your score. You may like to compare your score with others in the comments.

1. You listen to music at every opportunity

• The average teenager spends 1½ – 2½ hours a day listening to music. You listen to music much longer.
• You can’t remember the last time you spent a whole day without listening to music.
• You spend more time listening to music than watching TV.
• You listen to music in class or at work when you can get away with it.
• You listen to music as you travel to work or school.
• Listening to music makes you wish your commute was even longer.
• You listen to music in the bath or shower.
• You listen to music as you fall asleep.
• You dream about music while you sleep.
• You wake up to music with your alarm clock.

2. You find creative ways to fit even more music into your day

• You never leave home without your iPod and earbuds so you can make the most of every opportunity.
• You listen to music when you exercise. In fact, that’s the only reason you do exercise.
• You choose your restaurants by the music they play.
• Your mobile phone ringtone is your favorite song.
• You’d rather listen to the music than answer your phone when it rings.
• If someone else is listening to music, you ask if you can borrow one of their earbuds.
• You enjoy being on hold as long as the hold music is fairly decent.
• You eat your lunch somewhere that music is playing.
• You make sure your mobile phone, camera, and other electronic gadgets have an MP3 player built in.
• You think that the creative ideas in this list are nothing compared with yours!

3. Music affects you emotionally

• Whatever mood you are in, music seems appropriate.
• You often feel goosebumps when listening to music.
• Music has brought tears to your eyes.
• Music makes you feel better when you’re sad.
• Sometimes listening to a song brings back the feelings you had the first time you heard it.

4. Music gives you motivation for life

• Listening to music ignites your imagination.
• Music motivates you when you feel unmotivated.
• You work or study more effectively when music is playing.
• You exercise harder when music is playing.
• If you don’t listen to music for too long, you become irritable, cranky, and sometimes, downright awful to live with.

5. Music is part of your identity

• You consider yourself creative and artistic.
• The type of music you listen to forms an important part of who you are.
• The clothes you wear reflect the type of music you listen to.
• You wear jewelry that features musical instruments.
• The posters or paintings on your wall feature bands you listen to or musical instruments.

6. Music defines your relationships with others

• You have theme songs for all the significant people in your life.
• When you first meet someone, you ask them about the music they listen to.
• When you first meet someone, you play some of your favorite songs to them.
• You have strong opinions about music, and believe that everyone else’s opinions are wrong.
• There is always music playing when you get together with your friends.

7. All of your spending money goes on music

• You spend a large portion of your spending money on new albums or MP3s.
• You spend a large portion of your spending money on musical instruments or equipment.
• You own a record player, cassette player, CD player and MP3 player.
• You own some very big, expensive, high-quality headphones, and you’re not embarrassed to wear them in public.
• The first thing you would save in a fire is your music collection.

8. Just listening to music is not enough

• Listening to music isn’t enough – you need to feel involved somehow.
• You sing in the car when you think no one is listening.
• You sing in the car even if you know someone is listening.
• You fantasize about being a famous singer. Be honest!
• Music gets you moving – swaying, tapping your foot, nodding your head, rocking your body.
• Even when there’s no music playing you still do those things – there’s music playing inside your head.
• You love dancing, or wish you could dance.
• You call radio stations to request your favorite songs.
• You enjoy writing the lyrics of your favorite songs.
• You have a few autographed albums or posters.

9. You’re not just a music consumer, but a music-maker

• You write your own songs.
• You often think about how songs could be arranged better.
• You’ve created your own music with Frooty Loops, Garage Band or similar.
• You burned that music to CDs and gave them to all your friends.
• You own a musical instrument.
• You have learned how to play a musical instrument, or plan to.
• You are in a band, and play music with others (or try to).
• You are in a choir, and sing with others (or try to).
• You record your own music.
• You dream of making your livelihood from music.

10. You think of your computer as the ultimate jukebox

• Whatever else you are doing on your computer, music is playing in the background.
• You care about the quality of the speakers your computer is plugged into.
• You only visit YouTube for the songs.
• Your song library numbers in the thousands.
• You fear computer viruses because they may delete your music files.
• You have strong opinions about the music software you use.
• But you have five other media players installed anyway.
• You know about bitrates and codecs – and care.
• You spend hours organizing your music collection.
• You defragment your computer only so your songs don’t skip.

Interpreting your score

If you haven’t already done so, total the tally you have been keeping. What does that number mean?

Over 75. Come on, there are only 75 bullet points!

71-75. You seem to have trouble saying “no”. I doubt you could honestly get that high since there are contradictory points. I recommend reading a good book on self-esteem.

61-70. You are a serious musician who cares deeply about music. It is the air you breathe and language you speak.

51-60. Music plays a huge part in your life. You are a musician, and life for you would be meaningless without music.

41-50. You are a music lover and maybe a musician. Playing and listening to music inspires and motivates you. You would be less fulfilled and productive without music.

26-40. Music is an important part of your life, but you’re likely to find a way of surviving if it is taken away from you. At least for a while.

0-25. I find it hard to believe you’d be doing this quiz if you care that little about music. If your score is true, you’d die of starvation long before you missed listening to music.

Feel free to discuss your score in the comments.