It is interesting but quite misleading.

I do not like the proposed idea that the pleasure or the activation of the rewarding circuits in our brains are equivalent for music listening or playing and for some drugs intake.

We know very, very little about those neurotransmitters like dopamine. They appear in many, quite different brain processes and I consider them to be poorly known.

Also PET scans are rather coarse imagining systems that just show general section of the brain being active at a certain moment.

It is certain that we receive a rewarding for our activity as musicians or musicians to-be.

Otherwise it would not be understandable that we spend so many hours practising and (those lucky enough), performing.

In my case I feel (sometimes) deep emotions when playing something reasonably well. I have never tried cocaine or the like, so I cannot compare directly, but I believe, after the descriptions given in some media by people that know about drugs first hand, that this particular feeling is nor triggered by drugs.

The article you mention also hints to a possible addictive effect of music, probably because of the activation of rewarding brain systems. I disagree with that. We all like pleasant things and try to repeat pleasant experiences. If that is an addiction or not, is a matter of discussion.

But drugs like to impersonate our normal brain neurotransmitters and produce a physiological addiction, that many times is extremely hard to cure. Music cannot be accused of working in a similar way.

It is pure, plain pleasure and reward. (a hard-work acquired one, BTW)

I am afraid that the ultimate message of that article could be taken as the trivialization of drugs, as it compares their effects to other healthy activities. I oppose those misleading conclusions.

Son we can keep fluting happily for as much as we like. Lot of pleasure and rewards involved, with or without dopamine receptors.

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Son = So

"Music, a mere sequence of notes arranged in time, can activate the same reward centers in the brain as drugs such as cocaine."

One could come to this conclusion erroneously or they could also say that:

Drugs artificially simulate the effect that music has on naturally stimulating the reward centers in the brain.

Seems to me more like as music being a substitute to drugs, although we know of many who abused both and had a horrible end.
I prefer to believe that music and drugs exclude one another, but it's just me...

"Music, a mere sequence of notes arranged in time..."

This description/definition proves that Psych Central and/or the Organization for Human Brain mapping has a very poor understanding of music.

And probably also of the human brain ad its residing entity, the human mind

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ad = and

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Sorry for my bad English:
residing (?) = resident

My two cents -
Well, duh, yeah!

The article is a farce and falls quite short of substantiating it's claim. First off it uses the wording "music, a mere sequence of notes arranged in time". This sentence at the end is NOT journalism and has little to do with the article or findings. The article is talking about specific music that is DESIGNED to affect us (emotional music).

I have several friends in the music industry and drug industry.

MUSIC INDUSTRY
Emotional music is intentional. Is not merely a bunch of notes thrown together. There is a science to writing certain music. A dear friend of mine is a "jingle/commercial" writer and he srites specifically to a specific audience for effect/emotion. Another dear friend is a move music writer in Hollywood, he also writes specifically to affect the movie watcher.

DRUG INDUSTRY
A dear friend is a drug designer. People in her company tell her what they want the drug to do. She then designs a drug to affect the patient(s).

FOOD INDUSTRY
Oh, and of course, I have a friend who is a sous chef at a restaurant. Three guesses what they try and do with their menu when they are palning it and DESIGNING the recipes. That's right, they want to satiate you, make you feel good, and hopefully get you to go for the next course.

Listening to music can be addictive to some individuals. Mking music can also be addictive to some individuals. Use of prescribed and non-prescribed drugs can be addictive. Food can be addictive. Crtain beverages can be addictive. Physical stimulation can be addictive.

My two cents is that the article and the research is a waste of money and time.

I agree with the general assessment of that article. But some things are so trivial... like this:

"In particular, the areas of the brain used to process music are larger or more active in musicians."

Brain plasticity has been known for decades. What could one expect, then?

Not really for a Nobel prize in neurobiology.