Music has the power to transport us through time, taking us back to nostalgic moments from long ago and reigniting the emotions we may have felt then. However, it is also true that music can help to enhance our experiences, creating those core memories that stay with us into the future. A new home is a huge milestone for any individual or family, and it is certainly something we all hope to look back on fondly.
Putting on your favourite playlist can also be a great motivator for the tasks that come with moving house, especially when the to do lists seem to be getting longer and longer and you can’t wait to be settled in your new home.
It’s no wonder then that from packing up your belongings, to turning your space into your own and throwing a housewarming party, music plays a big part in the whole process.
To celebrate its time in Miles Platting, the major Manchester regeneration project by Lovell Homes, and the last chance to join its community at Saxon Square, the team has commissioned research to find out the ultimate playlist for home movers.
We scraped Spotify data to uncover songs that appeared in playlists which featured words and phrases related to moving house in their title or description, to find out what the most popular tunes were at every stage of the journey, from ‘moving day’ to ‘decorating’, sharing ‘new home’ social reels to ‘housewarming’ and family parties. You can listen to all of the playlists here.
The ultimate home moving playlist – tracks from across the generations
To create our ultimate home moving playlist, we combined the top songs from each of the playlists we analysed and combined them together to see which tracks featured most. It’s interesting to see what genres are the most popular and the contrast between new and trending songs, versus well-known classics.
Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso came out as the top song overall; a relatively new release that can be spotted across social media platforms and has undoubtedly been one of the stand-out hits of summer 2024. This may be why, with certain buyer demographics, this song appeared so high up - particularly for younger generations who may fall into the ‘first-time buyer’ category.
Overall, there is a real mix of decades ranging from the 1980s right through to the 2010s and beyond. It’s fair to say that all of them are feel good anthems, with tracks such as Mr Brightside by The Killers, I Wanna Dance with Somebody by Whitney Houston and Wannabe by Spice Girls all being well known dance floor classics. This is perhaps more revealing of what sets home movers up for getting through the more difficult challenges, but also helps to relive good times.
Grooving and moving day – songs to pack and party to
According to our research, as well as top trending hits such as Birds of a Feather by Billie Eilish and Good Luck, Babe! By Chappell Roan, popular ‘moving day’ songs focused on good times and good vibes. Helping to start the next chapter on the best note, other happy and positive songs included Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison, Dancing Queen by Abba, and Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles all coming out high up.
These tracks can amplify your mood, make the hard tasks a little easier and hopefully give you a moving day to remember.
Decorating on the dancefloor – paintbrush mics at the ready
You’ve spent months creating moodboards, flicked through endless colour charts, browsed the aisles of DIY stores and set aside every evening and weekend to finally start adding your own style to your new home.
Decorating is a chance to let your creativity flow and start putting your stamp on things – even if you’ve already chosen your brand new flooring and kitchen worktops. And if you’ve purchased a new home, the good news is that DIY is often a relaxing activity, allowing you to make quick changes to enhance the style choices you made when buying and customising your property, rather than requiring hours of time-consuming work to get it just right.
So, while you’re at it, a dance and a singalong can only help. When ‘decorating’, it turns out people enjoyed listening to more uplifting songs and ballads. Fleetwood Mac appeared a few times, with Dreams and You Can Go Your Own Way being amongst the top choices, evoking feelings of freedom and letting go, that may resonate with applying a fresh lick of paint.
Sell out social tour – aesthetic anthems for the #newhome
Everyone knows the pride that comes with sharing your life milestones online, and when it comes to ‘new home’ songs there are an abundance of tracks that have become the sounds of your new settled life, many of them often becoming famous due to social media. Inspirational, cosy and stylish home content on social media have all been consistently powerful trends where creators rely not just on the right imagery and lighting, but the perfect harmonies as a backdrop.
Whether it’s for some ambiance to enjoy cooking on your first night, tunes to while away the weekend or simply to document your new home journey, many of these songs are often quite focused on creating an atmosphere and as such, incorporate more electronic sounds and beats, rather than deep lyrics.
The melancholy tones of My Love Mine all Mine by Mitski became a viral sensation on social media, and blends perfectly with edited videos of a slow Sunday morning. Similarly, Snowfall by Øneheart is atmospheric and relaxing style while Softcore by The Neighbourhood has a futuristic quality. These top tunes are a true representation of the digital age of home moving.
VIP guestlist - housewarming hits
Of course, no house move would be complete without a celebration with your favourite people, and for ‘housewarming’ playlists there was a clear theme of clubbing and dance tracks to get the party going.
Older classics such as Murder on the Dancefloor by Sophie Ellis-Bextor – which had a huge resurgence recently - and Temperature by Sean Paul were combined with newer disco hits such as Afraid to Feel by LF System, Adore u by Fred Again, Prada by cassö,
Welcome your new neighbours round, maybe borrow some chairs and put on a spread (or order a takeaway) and bring joy and fun into your new home.
We are family – music for every generation
Though we didn’t include it in our ultimate home moving playlist, we know that a new home is a great reason to invite all your relatives around, so we also analysed the top tracks that are listened to when hosting a family get-together.
Not surprisingly, the top songs in this category came from a variety of eras to get any generation up on their feet. Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond is a major crowd-pleaser, having been synonymous with the England football squad in recent years and a great way to get everyone dancing. Walking on Sunshine by Katrina in the Waves will have everyone in high spirits, even if the weather doesn’t agree. And of course, it wouldn’t be complete without a rendition of We are Family by Sister Sledge.
Get moving to Manchester with Saxon Square
Lovell commissioned this research to celebrate nearing the end of its time in Miles Platting; a major regeneration project in the heart of Manchester which offers residents a calming retreat filled with green spaces and schools combined with easy access to a vibrant urban lifestyle with plenty of shops, restaurants and music venues. Saxon Square is the final phase in the scheme, and just a handful of homes are available for purchase at this bustling community which has proven popular with house hunters in the area.
The remaining homes are perfect for growing families, and couples wanting room to grow, including the four-bedroom Heartford, recently reduced with prices starting at just £439,950 for 1350 square foot of living space and the four-bedroom Leaford, with more than 1,400 square foot of living space and priced at £474,950.
Put on our ‘ultimate home moving’ playlist and find out more by visiting: https://www.lovell.co.uk/developments/saxon-square/
To read more about what this vibrant community has to offer, read our blog: https://www.lovell.co.uk/news/justabigails-on-why-families-will-love-life-in-revitalised-miles-platting-manchester/
Methodology
Using aggregator tool, The Playlist Miner, we scraped Spotify data for the top songs featured in playlists that included key words in the playlist name and/ or description relating to five themes associated with moving house. The words we used are: moving day, decorating, new home, housewarming and family party.
To create our ‘ultimate home moving playlist’ we combined the top 100 songs that featured on our dataset for each of the key words analysed, to then see which tracks featured the most overall.
We didn’t include ‘family party’ in this total playlist as it is not associated with the typical moving day lifecycle – though it is a big part of enjoying life in every new home.
The full data set is available upon request.
