Music as a Metaphysical Experience
Music is a metaphysical experience because sounds interact directly with your brain, independent of other senses, and can transport you to different realities. Therefore, the power of music goes beyond its source; it’s sublime [1][10][11].
Many philosophers contemplated music as the most sublime art form, primarily because of its characteristics. Even Nietzsche said that life without music would be an error.
How Sound Interacts with the Brain
Physical entry:
Air vibrations reach the cochlea in the inner ear, where hair cells convert them into electrical signals. These signals travel via the auditory nerve to the auditory cortex in the temporal lobe [2][10].
Emotion & memory:
The auditory cortex has strong connections to the amygdala (emotion), hippocampus (memory), and nucleus accumbens (reward/dopamine).
This is why a song can trigger goosebumps, nostalgia, or even tears [3][10].
Imagery & mental travel:
Music activates parts of the default-mode network and parietal association areas involved in mental imagery and spatial processing.
Brain-imaging studies show that listening to certain sounds—like ocean waves or cathedral echoes—can create vivid inner scenes, almost as if you’re in another place [4][5].
Altered sense of time and self:
Rhythms entrain brain oscillations; tempo can change the perception of time. Deep engagement (like in trance or flow) can reduce activity in the prefrontal cortex, which can feel as though self-boundaries dissolve [1][11].
It’s fascinating that one can be mentally transported to another state purely through sound.
The Pavlovian-like effect of sonic cues can be used deliberately: when a composer understands how specific sounds trigger emotional reactions, they can shape the listener’s feelings [3][10].
Pop Music and the Hook Economy
The pop-music industry has long experimented with what keeps audiences engaged. While verse-chorus (ABAB) song forms pre-date the 20th century [6], record labels and radio learned that hooks, repetition, and brevity boosted listener retention and sales.
In the streaming era, songs have become shorter and hooks appear earlier to meet the fast-scroll attention economy [7][8][9].
Long-form tracks still thrive in niche scenes, but mainstream pop increasingly favors the “fast-food” style—often around two minutes.
The Composer’s Deeper Role
Recognizing that emotions can be influenced through sound makes the composer’s task even more intriguing. It’s not only about harmony or melody—it’s about shaping collective memory and meaning.
Throughout history, music has been used to embed ideas—from protest anthems and theatre music to advertising jingles and even the Psalms, whose lyrics and metrics endured long after their original melodies were lost.
However, the commoditization of this art may disrupt one of humanity’s most sublime forms of transcendence. I’ll share this song by Porcupine Tree as a critique of the current scene.
Footnote Key
- Brain Connectivity & Aesthetic Experience — PMC
- High-Order Areas & Auditory Cortex — Princeton fMRI Study
- Music-Evoked Nostalgia & Reward Circuits — Wiley
- Sad/Happy Music & Mind-Wandering — Nature
- Music Enhances Script-Driven Imagery — arXiv
- Three-Minute Pop Song — Wikipedia (Historical Context)
- Hit Songs Are Getting Shorter — The Economist
- Pop Songs Shorter in the Streaming/TikTok Era — Washington Post
- Mean Song Duration by Year — Statista
- Daniel J. Levitin – This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession (2006) – A popular-science classic explaining how music perception, memory, and reward work in the brain.
- Roger Scruton – The Aesthetics of Music (1997) – A philosophical exploration of the metaphysical and aesthetic nature of music.