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Ed Sheeran aids Kiwis to sleep, says Spotify
Thu, 16th Apr 2015
FYI, this story is more than a year old

People in New Zealand are listening to Ed Sheeran on Spotify to help them go to sleep.

Spotify analyzed 2.8 million playlists that were "sleep themed" worldwide and a large portion of Kiwis put Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud" on there. Sam Smith came in second with "Lay Me Down" while Kanye West, Rihanna and Paul McCartney's "FourFiveSeconds" came in at third place. .

Spotify took a more scientific approach to learn why certain songs help people go to sleep more easily. Spotify asked the National Sleep Foundation for help to see how certain kinds of music helps us relax more.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, music's sleep benefits are a highly personal experience that depend on various factors including individual circadian rhythms, pre-bed rituals, sound salience and everyday “soundtracking” factors such as background noise and whitenoise

“People tend to gravitate toward mellow, laid back vocals between the baritone and tenor range—similar to why lullabies are effective for helping people relax,” said Dr. Max Hirshkowitz, chair-elect of the US National Sleep Foundation.

Angela Watts, VP, Global Communications at Spotify, commented, “'Sleep' is one of Spotify's most popular categories, that people also use for general relaxation and to help themselves unwind. Dr. Hirshkowitz's interesting insights reinforce the powerful connection between relaxation and music.

Most-Streamed Sleep Songs in New Zealand

  1. Thinking Out Loud – Ed Sheeran

  2. Lay Me Down – Sam Smith

  3. FourFiveSeconds – Rihanna, Paul McCartney, Kanye West

  4. Hold Back The River – James Bay

  5. Love Me Like You Do – From “Fifty Shades Of Grey” – Ellie Goulding

  6. I See Fire – Ed Sheeran

  7. All Of Me – John Legend

  8. Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey) – From The “Fifty Shades Of Grey” Soundtrack – The Weeknd

  9. Take Me To Church – Hozier

  10. Stay With Me – Sam Smith