I was reading about interesting winter apps in a magazine and one mentioned was a fireplace app, so I wondered if there was a fireplace video on YouTube.
That was the proverbial Pandora's box. The search led to dozens of fireplace videos of varying lengths but then it further expanded to thousands of videos of other sounds, many of which claimed to be soothing enough to sleep to. Surprisingly many had millions of views, suggesting that many people actually use these videos as sleep aids.
The genres are countless, there are videos of fireplaces, of course, but also sounds of ocean waves, wind, trains, crickets, cicadas, rain, wheat fields, rivers, streams, fans, frogs, cars, soothing music, Tibetan chimes, people whispering, birds chirping, owls hooting, sheep bleating, cows mooing, and the ever-present YouTube staple, cats meowing for hours. They're endless with hundreds of millions in combined views.
Of course it's not like I'm new to being lulled by YouTube. Many times I have fallen asleep watching a video on my smartphone. In my case it's mostly a preacher spewing nonsense or a suspect droning on during an interrogation.