Let’s talk about sex and music, baby!

A study conducted by Sonos shows that 67% of couples who listen to music together have more sex than couples who do not. Even Spotify has created their own curated sex playlists to get people “in the mood.” Music has a profound effect on the human mind and body and it plays a massive role in sexuality as well.

Biologically speaking, listening to music and having sex both release dopamine, which is known as “the happy hormone.” Dopamine is part of the pleasure and reward system in the brain that is associated with feelings of motivation, happiness and temporary euphoria. When people feel that they want, crave or love something, and they get that thing, dopamine is released leading to feelings of euphoria. 

Endogenous opioids are also released, which are bonded to the opioid receptors in the brain and, when released, result in lowered stress levels, pain relief and mood enhancement. When people listen to a song together, the neurons in their brains begin to synchronize. Also, when two people who are attracted to one another are listening to a song, oxytocin and serotonin are released from listening to good music. This makes an interesting combination of hormones that often result in people having sex.

Someone’s preferred music genre also has an effect on sexual satisfaction and sexual activities. According to separate experiments in Bustle and Cosmopolitan magazine, the most commonly enjoyed genres to which to have sex are electronic dance music, R&B and heavy metal.

When it comes to sexual behaviors, studies show that fans of country, blues, jazz, reggae and hip-hop are the most satisfied with their sex lives. Fans of blues, in particular, have shown to have the longest sexual encounters of the most common genres. 

Couples who have similar musical tastes also are more likely to experience greater sexual satisfaction than those who do not have similar tastes.

EDM and heavy metal fans have been shown to be the most experimental in the bedroom, whereas classic rock and pop fans are the least experimental. Preferred sexual positions also vary among the genres, with rap and hip-hop fans preferring doggy style while pop fans preferred the missionary position.

These sexual behaviors could largely be due to the lyrical content of the songs as well as the intensity. The lyrical content of the song, if sexually explicit, can drive people towards participating in sexual activities in younger individuals. 

A 2007 study in the journal Pediatrics actually confirmed the influence of lyrical content on sexual behavior, ranking songs of eight different genres based on sexual content in the lyrics. The four genres with the greatest amount of songs with degrading sexual content were rap-rock, rap, R&B and rap metal. Young fans of these genres were shown to have sexual experiences earlier in their lives than young fans of other genres. 

Music and genre choice actually correlate pretty heavily with sexual activity and preferences. Music can also amplify a sexual experience, and experimenting with different genres can also lead to more experimentation in the bedroom. Good sex is a fun experience for people who are attracted to and trust one another, and music choice is one way to make the experience even more exhilarating.