CHOOSING THE right music playlist can make or break the quality of your concentration during a study session. When used correctly, musical stimulation can turn tedious tasks into the most pleasant and productive experience. However, the process of finding the perfect playlist to listen to is a potential distraction hazard—worst-case scenario, you will be lost in the plethora of playlist options available online. Fortunately, here are some YouTube channels with high-quality playlist videos that will provide an engaging soundtrack to aid your concentration.

HalidonMusic

   In the world of study playlists, classical music is a steady favorite among many. Multiple studies have shown that some types of classical music can help the listener enhance their cognitive skills such as memory[1]. However, for people who are not familiar with the genre of classical music, it can be a challenge to successfully pick tracks that they find enjoyable.

   HalidonMusic’s playlists offer users access to a variety of choices by categorizing their selection in great detail. Some playlists are defined by moods, with titles such as “Happy Classical Music,” “Heavy, Fast Classical Music,” or even “Classical Music to Feel Like a Rockstar.” Other specifications include playlists linked to different activities like sleeping, reading, writing, or relaxing. Each piece included in the playlist stays true to its purpose by expertly exuding the ambiance the playlist is meant to produce. For those with more specific tastes, HalidonMusic also offers a collection of songs according to composers, instruments, periods, and countries of origin.

   What sets HalidonMusic apart from other classical music channels is its reliability. Being an official YouTube channel for Halidon, one of the largest independent music distributors in Italy, the channel is of pristine quality not only in terms of technical aspects such as audio but also in the insightful way each playlist is curated. Staying true to the channel’s aim to “present classical music to the widest possible audience” as stated by Mia Frabetti, the product manager of the channel, HalidonMusic provides a space where people can have a positive experience of classical music in their daily lives.

Ambient Worlds

   Ambient Worlds is a channel dedicated to turning the mundane study session into an epic adventure from your favorite movie. By combining film soundtracks with ambient sounds, Ambient Worlds recreates a fantasy world of your choosing. You need not always be calm and collected in the face of an assignment; when you are ready for a bit of fun while getting your task done, this is the channel that will fuel you through the entire study session.

   A unique feature of Ambient Worlds is that it creates multiple playlists from the same cinematic universe, focusing on different locations or scenes from the movie. For example, there are a series of playlists inspired by The Lord of the Rings depicting different places such as The Shire, Rivendell, or Rohan. They also have an extensive range of soundtrack playlists in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with each character assigned a playlist of their own. The channel is not only dedicated to mixing movie soundtracks—its playlists also range from epic gaming soundtracks to simple ambient playlists focusing on the sounds of nature.

   Ambient World’s content is almost always reflective of the concurrent trends in movies or TV shows, making their content attractive to a relatively bigger audience. In fact, it takes very little time between the release of a largely anticipated movie and the upload of a new playlist. For example, a Batman-themed playlist was uploaded merely three weeks after the release of the new Batman movie this March. In addition, the channel provides a high-quality ambiance in the playlist by using realistic background noise that blends nicely with the music, providing an immersive experience to listen to for hours on end.

Radiant

   At one time or another, we feel the need to fill the tranquility of an all-night study session with a slightly different type of music. Radiant is a South Korean channel that provides a selection of English songs inspired by sae byeok gam sung, which roughly translates to “sentiments of dawn.” This playlist is perfect for all the students who like to study in the dead of night, caught in the rhythm of their own world. Most songs selected in Radiant’s playlists have lyrics, which will also help you stay awake during the odd hours.

   The overall atmosphere of the playlists is soft and dreamy, with the titles implying that the songs are intended to help the listener relax after a long, assignment-filled day. Even within the relatively specific aesthetic that the channel is aiming for, each playlist is given a slightly different personality. Some are about the melancholy feeling of staring down at the quiet city by the moonlight or walking in the empty streets at the crack of dawn. Others are about visiting a happy place in your mind, opening a forgotten old album, or even floating in the land of dreams. Such variety of content, each providing a unique interpretation of the sae byeok gam sung atmosphere, is what secures a steady audience for the channel. It is also noticeable that the playlists consist of “hidden gems,” which are songs that are not well known but nevertheless pull at your heartstrings. Listening to the playlist from Radiant, you may find it healing your mind that is exhausted from work.

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   The key to increasing productivity is to set up the right study environment. Thus, it is important to keep trusty playlists on hand so that you can jump into a productive mindset whenever required. The next time you are in need of a “boost” from a new study playlist, visit these channels for easy access to good quality music.

[1] Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience