Every morning, Santa Rosa Junior College music student Michelle Nyandoro strolls her usual campus route with her headphones on, blasting smooth R&B music by her favorite artists to set the tone for her day and lift her mood.
On campus, she enjoys listening to artists like Drake and Chris Brown. At home or in the studio, she spends her time playing piano and creating her own sound as she aspires to become an R&B artist.
“Music is widely involved in my life,” Nyandoro said.
Beyond daily listening habits, students say music plays a deeper role in shaping how they feel and who they are. It serves as an outlet to process emotions, reflect on experiences and connect with themselves.
For some, their favorite artists and songs reflect how they feel or what they are going through.
Nyandoro enjoys R&B for its emotional depth and smooth beats, while other students choose to explore a range of genres. “I’ll use music to either keep me energized or if I’m working out,” said first-year SRJC engineering major Eric Rodriguez. “Music helps me a lot on focusing on one task for a long time because if not, I might hear other noises around me, and it ends up distracting me more than just one song.”
For many students, music is more than just something to listen to. It’s a constant companion that helps students get through their day and feel good about themselves.
According to “The Gen Z Audio Report” from Edison Research and SiriusXM Media, Americans aged 13 to 24 spend an average of four hours and 10 minutes a day listening to music. Of that time, more than 42% is devoted to streaming music, 20% to music and videos on YouTube, 16% to AM/FM radio, 8% to podcasts and 14% to other audio sources.
Many students report listening to music for multiple hours a day, taking their favorite tracks and artists with them on the go.
“I’ve got an average of seven hours of screen time [per day] dedicated to music,” Rodriguez said. “I listen to it while driving, doing homework and everything else.” First-year fire and emergency medical services major Deja Jones said that certain songs and artists carry powerful meaning, often tied to personal memories or emotions. “That song kind of saved my life,” Jones said, describing her favorite track, “Hands Held High” by Linkin Park. “It makes me cry, and you know it’s so deep with its message.” She added that emotional connection with specific genres or artists tends to keep her from branching out to new music.
Jared San Juan, a first-year chemistry major, connects with music through lyrics and storytelling, valuing songs that allow listeners to form their own interpretations. “I like to dive deep into the lyrics, and I feel like it’s never specific on what it means, so a lot of the songs you can take it as you wish,” said San Juan, describing why he likes Julie, a Los Angeles-based rock band.
San Juan said his listening habits changed as he began to move away from music influenced by peers and toward songs he felt truly reflected his identity. He explained how he felt pressure to conform and listen to music recommended by his friends.
When asked what he gets from listening to the music of his choice, San Juan said, “I think mostly discovering myself, well, like creating myself, my own identity. I can be whatever I want, and I don’t care what people think.”
Other students described similar shifts in musical taste. Some mentioned branching out into new genres as their music taste matured or growing tired of listening to the same songs.
“It’s more about being able to appreciate the different types of music a lot more,” Rodriguez said. “I think my music taste has matured a lot.” For Nyandoro, the evolution continues as she works to develop her own sound and draws inspiration from the music and artists she listens to every day.
