The Joy of Music is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Ben Rector, released on March 11, 2022, through OK Kid Recordings.

The pandemic cancelled his ongoing tour at the time and withheld other deadlines, leaving Rector to focus exclusively on the album's creation.

He performed on various TV shows to promote the album and also issued a short film in December 2021 in the lead-up to its release.

After Rector released his seventh album Magic (2018), his success grew, and his career as an independent artist shifted to business and management.

[1] In January 2020 and preceding the COVID-19 pandemic, Rector had recorded most of the album in Los Angeles with a collection of musicians he referred to as his "dream band".

[2] Rector found that the experience helped him rediscover what he enjoyed about music in the first place, and looked on the project as more of a hobby than his job.

[2] Noting that songs mainly focus on a specific portion of a person's life, Rector wanted the lyrics to reflect on an entire lifespan.

[3][6] An acoustic version featuring Ingrid Michaelson was released in October 2020, since Rector felt the song worked better as a duet.

[3] Another song, "Range Rover", written by Rector, Mark Trussell and Devin Dawson, was completed prior to being quarantined but revisited during the pandemic, and included Steve Winwood on the Hammond organ.

Rector felt the song was too out of his character and if it was on the track list of The Joy of Music it was "going to stick out and not really belong" and opted to release it as a single instead.

Both sides had one condition each: Rector said the lyrics needed to be clean to match his audience scope, and Snoop Dogg's manager said he only gets one take with no redos.

The goal of the song was to be an "anthem" for parents with young children, but also to capture "dad vibes" that he was personally feeling at the time of writing.

[16] Along with Snoop Dogg, The Joy of Music features vocals from the One Voice Children's Choir and Taylor Goldsmith, and instrumental performances from saxophonists Dave Koz and Kenny G.[15] The character "Joy", a costumed character, was created in collaboration with the Jim Henson's Creature Shop.

[2] When the album was completed he still wanted to continue doing collaborations he found exciting, working with Thomas Rhett on the song "What Makes a Man", which released in August 2022.

[19] In April, he performed "Steady Love" on The Bobby Bones Show, which he stated was his favorite song on the album.

[9] A promotional live tour was held from May 5 to June 25, 2022, featuring songs from the album alongside popular hits.

News's Curtis Wong considered "Supernatural" to be the "grooviest entry" with its use of 1980's synth pop and Koz's juxtaposing saxophone performance.

Wong closed with saying that "there’s no question 'The Joy of Music' represents a major step up for Rector as a musician.

[21] Matt Collar of AllMusic lauded Rector's ability to transform negative emotions, such as worry, into positive anthems, especially in "Dream On".

Executive Vice President of marketing for ESPN Laura Gentile said that "Sunday" "captures the joy that baseball brings, and the great feelings fans and players share as the season begins".