Beliefs and practices about music’s ability to heal the mind, body, and spirit date back to the Upper Paleolithic period, approximately 20,000 years ago. Music has been widely used by shamans and other healers to treat a variety of ailments, from mental disorders to injuries and illnesses. It is only recently that we have separated healing and music. We tend to view healing as the province of doctors and music as entertainment. Perhaps it’s time to reunite two of the most intimate parts of our lives.
Scientific advances over the past decade have provided a rational basis for this reunification. With a new body of research, we are taking what was anecdotal and putting music on an equal footing with prescription drugs, surgery, medical procedures, psychotherapy, and many other mainstream, evidence-based forms of treatment. Now you can. In the past two years alone, more than 8,000 papers have been published in peer-reviewed journals on this topic.
For thousands of years, music has been used to relieve a variety of ailments, from chronic pain to depression, anxiety, and simple boredom. It functions as a social lubricant, as a euphoric part of courtship, and in life cycle rituals from birth, birthdays, marriages, anniversaries, and even death. 2024 saw the culmination of years of scientific research and conferences, focusing on a seemingly simple question: “Can music have proven medical benefits?” The answer resonates, it resonates artistically. yes.
We have previously demonstrated the effectiveness of music therapy and music interventions to improve a variety of health outcomes and promote health. From treating Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease to managing chronic pain and depression, music has been relegated to the margins of modern medicine. Major healthcare companies now have procedural codes for the use of music in hospital, clinical, and outpatient settings.
2025 will see a renewed revitalization of the use of this age-old treatment based on evidence from rigorously conducted research. We will begin to see more sophisticated and subtle uses of music for specific illnesses, as well as improvements in immune system function and overall health.
The future of music in medicine extends from the hospital to the home, from illness to neurorehabilitation, mindfulness practices, and wellness. This is where AI can help, not in writing the music, but in choosing songs and genres that meet both personal tastes and desired treatment or health goals. By extracting key features from music and adapting them to individual tastes and needs, we can usher in a new era of personalized music medicine. Just as an individual’s DNA determines treatments and which medicines are most effective, AI could one day extract the DNA of music to help meet an individual’s therapeutic needs. You may be able to pinpoint exactly what.
Consider all the information about you in the cloud, including your search history, location, people you’re with, your calendar, contact list, and the types of things you’re viewing on social media. Some companies also know a lot about your music preferences: what you listen to, what you skip, what time of day you listen, and where you are when you listen. Smart devices that read biometrics not only measure heart rate, heart rate variability, blood oxygenation levels, breathing rate, skin conductance, body temperature, and blood pressure, but also how they vary depending on time of day and activity. Understand. engaged in.
And they also know about those activities, like when you’re running, walking, climbing steps, riding in a car, sleeping, etc. Of course, when you’re sleeping, they know what sleep stage you’re in and how long you’ve been sleeping. (They know if you’re asleep, if you’re awake, and if you’ve been bad or good. So be good for the sake of good!). You’ll soon have the option to subscribe to on-demand music that can be ‘requested’ through your own biometrics to calm your mind, energize you for exercise, or help you focus at work. , provides music that helps treat illnesses. Things like chronic pain, depression, Parkinson’s disease, and even Alzheimer’s disease.
