Emo Music: Why it Attracts Younger Audience?

Music has an overwhelming influence on people. It has influenced cultures, led political revolutions, and changed history. For many people, music became more than a source of entertainment. For them, it's the way of life. Emo music, which is a type of rock music, also influenced generations of teens and young adults. 

Emo Music: Why it Attracts Younger Audience?
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Emo music unabashedly represents all that a teenager goes through or perceives about life after adolescence. As a youngster, emo leads to a strong desire in young minds to become immediately older and more experienced. Once they grow out of that age, the love for music remains, but it becomes a part of life, not the way of life. Even the famous Emo singers are an example of that. The famous Paramore front-face lead singer Hayley Williams cut her hair short and grew out of her bangs into fiery short hairs once she left her emo music days. 

Contrary to popular belief, where emos are stereotypically defined as melodramatic and depressed, they are simply music lovers who are in touch with their emotional sides. Simply put, emo music is music for the sensitive. They enjoy getting to know and socializing with like-minded individuals, which is why they usually are attracted to other emos. For some, their love for emo music is so profound that they only date other emo music lovers. For them, emo is not just about music but life. Thankfully, emo dating sites helped several “emos” in finding dates and love. There are several other places apart from dating sites where emos can meet, such as music festivals or emo clubs.

To understand why young minds relate to emo music so well, you need to first understand how the whole craze for emo music began. In the early to mid-2000s, high school students in the US started embracing new bands, a new look, and a new sound, which helped emo gain popularity like wildfire. The time is also known as the second wave of emo music after the 70s when rock was at the top. The mainstream emo singers started gaining popularity. Some prominent albums were The Swiss Army Romance and Designing a Nervous Breakdown, followed by Jimmy Eat World. 

After some time, the music started to draw in a new, and more significantly, younger, fan base. These were youngsters who not only adored the music but also began to adore the word. Young emo kids started using the title "emo kid," which made older emo kids who had never accepted the term resent it. Now almost 2 decades have passed, and the word has all but disappeared. It has just changed form. Many young emo singers’ works are loved and adored around the world. Billie English and Finneas are the two most famous brother-sister duos who started off as emo singers, but their music evolved with time. 

Billie English and Hayley Williams are all examples of how only teenagers get influenced by Emo music. During a famous interview with Billie English, a reporter asked her, "When you first came out, you were sort of like an emo, kind of sad-looking teenager, and now you are, like, laughing and having a good time, and you look very happy, and it's so nice to see.” To which she amusing responded, "I went from 14 to 20, so that will do it.”

Blame it on hormones or the changes an individual goes through at that age; it leaves a profound impact on teenagers. They experience many new emotions, such as first love, betrayal, sexual excitement, and the pressure of studies. All these emotions push them towards enjoying darker and heavier music. Many emo kids claim these bands are the first to ever connect with them. Emo bands helped them feel supported and understood. Their lyrics expressed what teenagers struggled to say, and they feel their difficulties seem a little bit easier to bear.

Music might seem like a very potent medium since it can instantly connect with someone's emotions and break down language boundaries. Despite the fact that the genre was divisive and sometimes demonized, the majority of fans of it said that listening to the songs of these bands was "therapeutic," especially in terms of mental health.

Singer Hayley Williams has recently been outspoken about her struggles with PTSD and depression. Paramore recently released After Laughter, an album that serves as a foundation for the band members' individual struggles with mental health and the ensuing changes to the band's original formation. It shows how even the main emo singers went through an emotionally turmoiled phase. These singers not only inspire the emo kids with music but with their life struggles and coming out of them like a winner.

Bottom Line

Don't be misled—despite what you may hear on the channels or social media platforms about emo music dying, many of the bands you first fell in love with are still active today, inspiring millions of young people around the world.

The emotional touch, therapeutic value, and dark entertainment that emo provides are only understood by people who are actually going through that phase. The teenagers who are going through hormonal changes and emotionally confusing state resonates with emo music and follow it with passion.