MANILA – Whilst in-person events may not have flourished during the pandemic, one passion that seems to have truly laid down roots across the world this past 12 months is that of plantcare.
With people spending more time indoors, houseplants and their care have blossomed into a healthy hobby for homes across the world, including the Philippines – more people are buying and even talking to their plants! During the past 12 months, streams of Spotify’s “Music for Plants” playlist grew nearly 1,400%. A global survey from Spotify showed that 21% of plantitos and plantitas around the world even tried talking to their plants over the last year.
Since the 1970s, it has also been a popular theory that the vibrations of audio content can stimulate growth in plants. For people who have unearthed their passion for plant parenting this past year, Spotify’s Music for Plants playlist offers plenty of good vibrations for your homegrown foliage – and new listening data and audience research* from Spotify shows how popular houseplants and their care have become over the past 12 months around the world.
Plant Playlist Passion
Listening data showed that morning is the most popular time for Spotify users to play audio to their plants from the playlist, and the audience data found one in ten (12%) of people worldwide have tried using audio content (music or podcasts) to care for their plants in the past year, whilst one in five (21%) have been talking to their houseplants more.
Many Spotify users also created their own plant playlists, with the most popular houseplant that saw playlists created for it worldwide being Jasmine, followed by Ivy and Vanda.
28% of those surveyed globally also said that they felt caring for houseplants offers people more of a purpose in life, whilst one in four people (26%) globally said they believe they will carry their passion for houseplants on into the future.
In the Philippines, more than one fifth (23%) of those surveyed say they have bought more houseplants during the past 12 months, due to spending more time at home during the pandemic , whilst 18% say they are taking more pride in their houseplants than ever before, and 40% believe they will still be passionate about houseplants in the future.
Green-Thumb Guidance
Despite this newfound passion for plants though, Spotify’s audience data found 28% in the Philippines find it difficult to know how to care for their houseplants. 43% of those surveyed believe they have gotten better at caring for houseplants during the past 12 months, whilst almost half (49%) are interested in learning more about houseplants and how to care for them.
Spotify’s Music for Plants playlist offers mellow vibrations for green leaves, green thumbs and green ears, including music and soundscapes carefully handpicked to help encourage growth. Of course, one can always continue having conversations with their plants, where we see 28% in the Philippines doing so.
Below are some of the other plant-related trends cropping up on Spotify:
- Plant playlists are in bloom: There are over 2.9 million user-generated playlists on Spotify related to plants and gardening.
- Botanical beats: Popular song picks for these playlists reflect a variety of genres. Check out some of the most-added tracks:
“Ivy” by Frank Ocean, “Such Great Heights” by Iron & Wine, “BUTTERFLY EFFECT” by Travis Scott, “Mr. Brightside“ by The Killers, “Garden (Say It Like Dat)” by SZA, “Here Comes the Sun – Remastered 2009” by The Beatles, “Secret Garden” by Bruce Springsteen, “Three Little Birds” by Bob Marley & The Wailers, Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran, “Rose Garden” by Lynn Anderson and “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac - Popping plants: Some listeners get very specific by naming their playlists after types of plants. Some of the top plant playlist categories on Spotify are Ivy, Cactus, and Ferns.
- Perennial pick: Streams of Mort Garson’s 1976 classic plant album Mother Earth’s Plantasia (featuring tracks like Symphonyfor Spider Plant and Concerto for Philodendron & Pothos) are up more than 40% this year.
- Green genres: The top 5 genres of music for plants on Spotify globally include Fourth world, Art pop, Background music, Ambient, and Lo-fi beats
The Music for Plants playlist is available to listen to on Spotify.
* Spotify worked with independent third-party research company, YouGov, to survey 26,872 at people aged 18+ across 23 countries between 29th April and 12th May 2021
