Think about your favorite album of all time. Ask yourself, why is it your favorite? Is it purely related to the quality of the tracks, or is there something more about it that entices you, such as how it can provide comfort during difficult times or remind you of fond memories? If your answer is anything similar to the latter, then you’re not alone. Studies show that music can evoke emotions such as happiness or melancholy, but perhaps one of the strongest emotions it can elicit is nostalgia. 
Nostalgia is a powerful tool that we use often to escape from the present. According to a study conducted in March of 2023 in Nature, the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 increased the total number of listens to positive old music across the UK, which was related to nostalgic-seeking behavior during uncertain and stressful times. This shows the human nature to attach to our memories, and how music can somehow enhance that attachment. 

How does music elicit nostalgic emotions?
Apart from nostalgia, music has been found to induce various emotions within individuals. In chapter 7 of the novel Music and the Mind: Essays in Honour of John Sloboda, Patrik N. Juslin explains the tendency for music to change physiological conditions such as heart rate, breathing, and hormonal secretions. This relates to certain emotions such as happiness, sadness, or melancholiness. However, the ability of music to elicit a specific emotional response such as nostalgia is more complicated and involves several processes.

The process by which music elicits emotions is outlined by several mechanisms. Namely, episodic memory is most related to nostalgia, as it describes the musical ability to resurface significant life events of the listener. This can be enhanced through other mechanisms, such as evaluative conditioning, which is an emotional response from music brought out due to a paired positive or negative stimulus in the listener’s personal life. For example, you may fondly remember the music playing at your graduation party or your favorite birthday, since the music was paired with a positive event. These elements combine to tie the music playing in your playlist to the events happening in your life, as our brain tends to keep vivid memories of moments that help to push our self-development.

How does nostalgic music affect us?
Knowing that music and nostalgia are heavily related, the effects of nostalgia itself on our well-being can vary. Sometimes, nostalgic feelings can bring about positive emotions in reflecting on enjoyable experiences in the past. However, it can also elicit negative emotions with a longing for better times. This dichotomy is backed by a study conducted in 2018, where researchers had college students describe their emotions after listening to self-picked nostalgic music. It was found that students experiencing more homesickness tended to feel negative emotions, while the opposite was true for students experiencing less homesickness. 

The subjective well-being of students vastly differed as a result and shows that nostalgic music, and nostalgia in general, is not always therapeutic. It is important to take a moment and reflect on how far we have come in our lives, however, it is equally important to not lose ourselves in the past.