Lapaloma Project

More and more Youtube users click on videos with titles like “Instrumental beats to study”. But are there really so many people in the learning fever who listen to pieces that are not vocal for self-motivation? We get to the bottom of the hype.

What’s Behind Lo-Fi Music Soundtrack?

For a few months now, many music-loving YouTube users have been showing videos and live streams with similar titles in the recommendations again and again. For example, they are called “Lo-fi beats to chill to” or “24/7 lo-fi hip hop radio”. The pictures for this almost always consist of motifs or gifs in anime style: girls crouching at their desks and staring in front of themselves. The music corresponds to the description: crackling snares, hi-hats, jazzy piano strumming, and here and there a guitar. No singing, no rap parts.

In addition to the very meditative effect of this music, what is particularly impressive is its popularity: There are innumerable channels on the same topic. The number of followers ranges from a few hundred people to several hundred thousand. The YouTube channel “ChilledCow” has almost a million subscribers, the channel “Chillhop Music” even almost one and a half million. Who would have thought YouTube was so full of hardworking learners?

How many viewers actually used these channels to snoop around for exams, of course, nobody can say.

The fact is: An enormous community has formed around the “Lo-fi study beats”.

Most of the music that runs in the YouTube mixes comes from Soundcloud beatmakers who submit their tracks to the channel operators. There is now also a Chillhop record label that gives beatmakers from the Netherlands the opportunity to officially release their music. Last year there was even a first-party in Paris where some of the “Lo-fi study beats” artists played.

Chillhop A&R Scout Simon Leidner (who also tinkers under the name Philanthrope Beats) hopes that these IRL actions are just the beginning – and that people will soon not just be letting the sound play on the side.

The hype surrounding the “lo-fi study beats” goes well with the way people listen to music these days. It’s no longer so much about discovering your own bands or songs – people want to hear something that suits their current mood. And regardless of whether people actually hear the “Lo-fi study beats” to learn or not – everyone has to come down.