Lofi Girl: lofi hip hop as soundtrack to the productivity culture on YouTube
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30962/ecomps.3134Keywords:
Lofi hip hop, Lofi Girl, Ubiquitous music, Productivity culture, YouTubeAbstract
The article explores the idea of listening to lofi hip hop to increase productivity, based on the Lofi Girl channel on YouTube. The central hypothesis is that, although the channel promotes a pleasant atmosphere, it reinforces ideals of high performance and 24/7 temporality, becoming a tool for enhancing listeners' “biocapital”, helping them to focus and overcome sleep and fatigue. Organized in three parts, the work traces the history of the Lofi Girl channel and its growth during the pandemic, discusses the connection of background music with neoliberal discourses, and analyzes the arguments and aesthetics related to productivity in the comments of the channel's most-watched video.
Downloads
References
ALEXANDER, J. YouTube briefly terminated a popular live stream channel, creating one of the longest videos ever. The Verge, 24 fev. 2020. Disponível em: https://tinyurl.com/yuck4x8z. Acesso em: 21 set. 2024.
GAUZISKI, D. Paisagens sonoras da produtividade: músicas e sonoridades para foco e concentração no YouTube. In: CASTANHEIRA, J. C.; CONTER, M.; MARRA, P. (Orgs.). Sons do fim do mundo. Porto Alegre: Sulina, 2025. No prelo.
BOLTANSKI, L.; CHIAPELLO, È. O novo espírito do capitalismo. São Paulo: WMF Martins Fontes, 2009.
CASAQUI, V. Abordagem crítica da cultura da inspiração: produção de narrativas e o ideário da sociedade empreendedora. E-Compós, v. 20, n. 2, 2017.
CRARY, J. 24/7 – Capitalismo tardio e os fins do sono. São Paulo: Cosac Naify, 2014.
DeNORA, T. Music in everyday life. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
___________. Music asylums: wellbeing through music in everyday life. Surrey (England): Ashgate, 2013.
FOUCAULT, M. Nascimento da biopolítica. São Paulo: Martins Fontes, 2008.
GOFFMAN, E. Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates. New York: Anchor Books, 1961.
HAMANN, T. Neoliberalismo, governamentalidade e ética. Ecopolítica, n. 3, maio-ago. 2012.
JORGE, M. Desempenho tarja preta: a medicalização da vida e espírito empresarial na sociedade contemporânea. Niterói: Eduff, 2021.
KASSABIAN, A. Escuta Ubíqua. Ecus Cadernos de Pesquisa, n. 2, 2019.
LANZA, J. Elevator music: a surreal history of Muzak, easy-listening, and other moodsong. New York: Picador, 1995.
MILLER, M. Exploring Soundscapes, Ambience and Photography through the Creative Process of Alternate Reality Café. Sonic Scope, i. 4, 2022.
NEAL, A. Lo-fi Today. Organised Sound, v. 27, n. 1, p. 32-40, 2022.
PEREIRA, V.; BORBA, C.; CONTER, M.; GAUZISKI, D. AMBIENTE, ATMOSFERA E AUDIBILIDADE L.O.F.I. – Lábil e Oscilatória quanto ao Foco de Investimento. In: Anais do 33° Encontro Anual da Compós, 2024, Niterói. Anais eletrônicos... Campinas, Galoá, 2024.
PEREIRA, V. MERSBE-mercado de ruídos e sons para o bem-estar: modulações da escuta e cultura aural contemporânea. Intexto, n. 52, p. 98204-98204, 2021.
PORFÍRIO, J. Sleep/relax/work/study/read: YouTube, sound, and music in the construction of listening spaces to fall asleep. SoundEffects - An Interdisciplinary Journal of Sound and Sound Experience, [S. l.], v. 10, n. 1, p. 27–41, 2021.
RABELO LUCCAS, R. Para acompanhar seu dia: controvérsias e negociações entre o consumo das playlists situacionais do Spotify e o gosto musical. 2021. 179 f. Dissertação (Mestrado em Comunicação) - Programa de Pós-Graduação em Comunicação, Instituto de Arte e Comunicação Social, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, 2021.
SATAFLE, V.; DUNKER, C.; SILVA JUNIOR, N. Neoliberalismo como gestão do sofrimento psíquico. Lisboa: Darue, 2023.
SENNETT, R. A corrosão do caráter: as consequências pessoais do trabalho no novo capitalismo. Rio de Janeiro: Record, 2015.
WINSTON, E.; SAYWOOD, L. Beats to relax/study to: Contradiction and paradox in lofi hip hop. IASPM Journal, v. 9, n. 2, p. 40-54, 2019.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Débora Gauziski, Simone Pereira de Sá
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The submission of originals to this journal implies the transfer, by the authors, of the printed and digital publication rights. The copyrights for the published articles belong to the author, with the rights of the journal over the first publication. The authors can only use the same results in other publications, clearly indicating this journal as the source of the original publication. Because we are an open-access journal, the free-of-charge,educational, scientific, and non-commercial use of the papers is allowed, as long as the source is cited.
Authorship
Any person who has effectively participated in the conception of the study, the development of the experimental part, the analysis and interpretation of data and the final wording, is considered as an author. By submitting an article for publication in E-Compós Journal, the author agrees with the following terms: 1. The author keeps the rights on the article, but its publication in the journal automatically implies the full and exclusive disposal of the copyright rights for the first edition, without payment. 2. The ideas and opinions expressed in the article are the sole responsibility of the author, not necessarily reflecting the views of the journal. 3. After the first publication, the author is authorized to take additional contracts, independent of the journal, for the dissemination of the paper by other means (e.g. when publishing in the institutional repository or as a book chapter), provided that the complete citation of the original publication. 4. The author of a published article is allowed and is stimulated to distribute his work online, always with the proper citation of the first edition.
Conflicts of interest and research ethics
If the developed research or the publication of the article may raise doubts as to potential conflicts of interest, the author should declare, in a final note, that no links to funding bodies have been omitted, as well as to commercial or political institutions. Similarly, the institution to which the author is bound should be mentioned, as well as others that may have collaborated in the execution of the study, evidencing that there are no conflicts of interest with the result already presented. It is also necessary to inform that the interviews and experiences involving human beings have obeyed the established ethical procedures for scientific research. The names and addresses informed in this journal will be used exclusively for the services provided by this publication, not made available for other purposes or to third parties. The copyrights belong exclusively to the authors. The licensing rights used by the journal consist in the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) license: sharing (copying and distribution of the material in any media or format) and adaptation (remix, transformation and creation of material from licensed content for any purposes, including commercial) are permitted.
