Auto advice: Can listening to music in the car influence the way you drive?

Allianz Ireland and Spotify recently launched Seat Belters — a new playlist tool designed to help drivers stay calm by curating music at a slower tempo. Built around songs in the 60–80 beats per minute (BPM) range, Seat Belters is rooted in emerging behavioural science that links music tempo to driving performance.
So how exactly does music affect how we drive?
Multiple studies have found that music with a fast tempo – anything above 120 BPM — can elevate heart rate and impair focus. That can translate into riskier driving decisions, like speeding, tailgating or erratic lane changes. Conversely, slower music helps regulate heart rate and keeps the brain in a more attentive and composed state.
Are we really that influenced by rhythm while driving?
Surprisingly, yes. Human behaviour tends to sync with musical rhythm — a phenomenon known as entrainment. When listening to fast-paced music, drivers may unconsciously match the tempo, leading to faster acceleration and quicker, often less considered, reactions. On a physiological level, high-BPM music can elevate cortisol and adrenaline levels — hormones that are associated with stress and impulsive behaviour.
What's the evidence behind slower music leading to safer driving?
Studies suggest that music in the 60–80 BPM range leads to calmer, more consistent driving. Drivers listening to slower tracks were found to maintain better lane control, exhibit fewer aggressive behaviours and respond more accurately to sudden changes on the road.
Is silence better than music when it comes to safety?
It depends. Silence can reduce cognitive load, which is helpful in high-pressure driving environments. But moderate music can reduce fatigue and prevent zoning out during long trips.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

The Irish Sun

a day ago

• The Irish Sun

Most expensive Spotify bills ever ‘incoming' as membership change ‘makes your songs sound even better for extra fee'

SPOTIFY bills are set to become more expensive than ever amid reports the global streaming service is moving forward with its long-awaited "lossless" audio feature. The new development was spotted by a reverse engineer who found multiple mentions of "lossless" in Wednesday's build of the Spotify desktop app. Advertisement 1 This is the first sign the 'lossless audio' service is still under development at Spotify These code snippets mainly refer to help cards that would appear to inform users about what the lossless tier offers and how to use or troubleshoot it. It's been more than four years since the company first announced its plans to launch a "lossless audio" tier that has yet to arrive. While there have been numerous leaks and teases from company execs, this is the first sign the service is still under development. Sites such as Tech Crunch are reporting that the code indicates the feature could even be getting closer to launch. Advertisement According Chris Messina, the engineer who uncovered the roll out, one card says, 'Lossless music, now in premium,' while another describes it as the 'best sound quality on Spotify for music in up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz'. Some of the cards warn users that particular songs aren't available in lossless or when their device has bad connectivity, which could affect playback. Another notes that lossless music is 'best enjoyed on devices compatible with In addition, Reddit user u/bendotlc noted that other changes were seen in the latest version of the mobile app, where the code now mentions lossless . Advertisement Most read in Tech Exclusive Exclusive How to save money on Spotify They wrote: 'Say hello to the best sound quality on Spotify. Listen to high-fidelity music in up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz.' The user claimed the feature is actually present in the app, but is currently disabled. Of course, code references don't mean the lossless feature is coming anytime soon. Leaks and code references have appeared before, and yet the high-quality audio tier never arrived. Advertisement When asked directly about lossless and other plans for premium tiers on recent earnings calls with investors, Spotify execs, including CEO Daniel Ek, would only hint that the company was investing in premium products for 'super fans'. They wouldn't give a time frame on when these or any other higher-quality streaming options would finally launch. Most recently, 'Now, with regards to higher tiers, we see great potential in them as we've mentioned before,' he said. 'So creating higher tiers around new offerings is something we are working towards as it really opens up new opportunities to delight users." Advertisement When Spotify first announced its plans for Spotify HiFi, as it was then called, in 2021, it said that the service would offer users music in 'CD-quality, lossless audio format.' It had run tests of a lossless option in the years before this, however. Eventually, Spotify pointed to licensing issues as the reason for its delay in launching. In what could be promising news on that front, the streamer signed new deals with labels including Warner Music and Universal Music Group in early 2025, which could pave the way for the lossless tier — or so music fans hope. Advertisement Read more on the Irish Sun Bloomberg also reported earlier this year that a premium Music Pro tier would launch later in 2025, which would include high-quality streaming, remixing, and other features. Spotify declined to comment on the Bloomberg report. How fraudsters use AI and bots to squeeze royalties out of Spotify, Deezer and the rest Fraudsters are flooding Spotify, Apple Music and the rest with AI-generated tracks, to try and hoover up the royalties generated by people listening to them. These tracks are cheap, quick and easy to make, with Deezer estimating in April that over 20,000 fully AI-created tracks – that's 18% of new tracks – were being ingested into its platform daily, almost double the number in January. The fraudsters often then use bots, AI or humans to endlessly listen to these fake songs and generate revenue, while others are exploiting upload services to get fake songs put on real artists' pages and siphon off royalties that way. Aurelien Herault, Chief Innovation Officer, Deezer, said: 'AI generated content continues to flood streaming platforms like Deezer, and we see no sign of it slowing down. "Generative AI has the potential to positively impact music creation and consumption, but we need to approach the development with responsibility and care in order to safeguard the rights and revenues of artists and songwriters, while maintaining transparency for the fans. "Thanks to our cutting-edge tool we are already removing fully AI generated content from the algorithmic recommendations.'

Irish Independent

08-06-2025

• Irish Independent

Auto advice: Can listening to music in the car influence the way you drive?

Allianz Ireland and Spotify recently launched Seat Belters — a new playlist tool designed to help drivers stay calm by curating music at a slower tempo. Built around songs in the 60–80 beats per minute (BPM) range, Seat Belters is rooted in emerging behavioural science that links music tempo to driving performance. So how exactly does music affect how we drive? Multiple studies have found that music with a fast tempo – anything above 120 BPM — can elevate heart rate and impair focus. That can translate into riskier driving decisions, like speeding, tailgating or erratic lane changes. Conversely, slower music helps regulate heart rate and keeps the brain in a more attentive and composed state. Are we really that influenced by rhythm while driving? Surprisingly, yes. Human behaviour tends to sync with musical rhythm — a phenomenon known as entrainment. When listening to fast-paced music, drivers may unconsciously match the tempo, leading to faster acceleration and quicker, often less considered, reactions. On a physiological level, high-BPM music can elevate cortisol and adrenaline levels — hormones that are associated with stress and impulsive behaviour. What's the evidence behind slower music leading to safer driving? Studies suggest that music in the 60–80 BPM range leads to calmer, more consistent driving. Drivers listening to slower tracks were found to maintain better lane control, exhibit fewer aggressive behaviours and respond more accurately to sudden changes on the road. Is silence better than music when it comes to safety? It depends. Silence can reduce cognitive load, which is helpful in high-pressure driving environments. But moderate music can reduce fatigue and prevent zoning out during long trips.

Irish Independent

02-06-2025

• Irish Independent

Vinyl records are making a resurgence in Ireland with Kildare company leading the field

The revival of vinyl records has led to the establishment of Anthem Vinyl, the only vinyl pressing plant on Irish soil Today at 03:00 For years, boxes and boxes of vinyl records sat forgotten in attics across the country, a thick layer of dust making their covers illegible. As technology advanced, the once treasured vinyl player was stored away to gather dust and cobwebs, while radio and then the mobile phone with streaming platforms like YouTube and Spotify became the only way to listen to music.