Apple Music and Universal Music Group have partnered to launch Sound Therapy, a science-backed “wellness collection,” marking UMG’s latest venture in the music-wellness space.
The two companies said on Tuesday (May 13) that the new venture leverages scientific research and UMG’s proprietary audio technologies to “[harness] the power of sound waves, psychoacoustics, and cognitive science to help listeners relax or focus the mind.”
Sound Therapy seeks to help listeners “attain clearer focus, deeper relaxation, and better sleep” by blending songs that subscribers already know with special sound waves.
“A dreamy version of Katy Perry’s Double Rainbow, for example, could help listeners drift off to sleep, while an Imagine Dragons track might help them tackle a to-do list,” Apple and UMG explained.
The service is now available exclusively to Apple Music subscribers.
Sound Therapy divides its offerings into three categories targeting focus, relaxation, and sleep. The focus category employs gamma waves and white noise, which can filter out distractions. For relaxation, songs incorporate theta waves, while the sleep category utilizes delta auditory beats and “pink noise,” sounds kin to rain and wind.
“With Sound Therapy, we’re proud to work alongside UMG and Sollos to bring a new listening experience to Apple Music.”
Rachel Newman,Apple Music
Sound Therapy features extended, instrumental, and reimagined versions of popular tracks from artists like ImagineDragons, KatyPerry, KaceyMusgraves, LudovicoEinaudi, AURORA, JhenéAiko, ChelseaCutler, and JeremyZucker.
It stems from Sollos, a music-wellness venture incubated within UMG that brings together producers, scientists, and audio engineers.
“Every day, people around the world make Apple Music part of their daily routine, and we’ve seen incredible engagement around our personalized mood playlists and the new Apple Music Chill radio station,” said Rachel Newman,Apple Music’s co-head.
“Now, with Sound Therapy, we’re proud to work alongside UMG and Sollos to bring a new listening experience to Apple Music — one that’s grounded in artistry, shaped by innovation, and designed to support wellness.”
The initiative comes amid growing consumer interest in digital wellness tools, including in wellness music. According to data from the non-profit Global Wellness Institute, the global wellness market grew to $5.6 trillion in 2022, and is expected to hit $8.5 trillion by 2027.
“For years, elevating music’s role in health and wellbeing has been a strategic priority for UMG, linked to a potentially significant commercial opportunity, as well as something that our Chairman and CEO, Sir Lucian, and the entire management team, are passionate about,” said Michael Nash, UMG’s EVP & Chief Digital Officer.
“Given Apple’s leadership at the intersection of health and technology, the launch of Sound Therapy represents an important validation of our innovative, science-led Sollos initiative. We look forward to working closely with the team at Apple to expand the ways that music can be harnessed to improve the wellness benefits for its users.”
“The launch of Sound Therapy represents an important validation of our innovative, science-led Sollos initiative.”
Michael Nash, Universal Music Group
Apple Music and UMG emphasized that while Sound Therapy is designed to support overall wellbeing, it “is not intended to treat any medical condition.”
For Apple, Sound Therapy marks another step in its wider health strategy. The tech giant has expanded its wellness offerings through Apple Watch, HealthKit, and AppleFitness+.
For UMG, the partnership comes amid its increasing focus on wellness services. Earlier this year, the music company partnered with the non-profit Music Health Alliance (MHA) to launch the Music Industry Mental Health Fund to provide “comprehensive, high-quality outpatient mental health resources” for music industry professionals across the US.
In December 2024, UMG partnered with Realize Music, Inc. to bring tracks to the Realize Music: Sing app. The same month, UMG teamed up with Cardiff-based RescapeInnovation to explore a new virtual reality (VR) treatment for anxiety that incorporates personalized music.
In September 2024, UMG’s Indian arm launched a wellness music label called Vedam Records in partnership with three-time Grammy winner RickyKej. Also last year, MBW unearthed a patent application from UMG intended for the wellness space.
The application, titled, ‘Generating tonally compatible, synchronized neural beats for digital audio files‘ describes what UMG calls “new and innovative systems and methods for generating and adding neural beats to existing audio tracks”.
In 2021, UMG struck a partnership with $34 million-backed MedRhythms for its music to be used to treat neurologic injury. In 2022, Universal became the exclusive launch partner for an AI-driven music app called Vera that provided access to UMG’s music catalog for people with dementia.
Then in 2023, the company launched music-wellness app Sollos, which, according to the company, uses “cognitive science and proprietary audio technology to support focus, relaxation, and sleep.”
Also in 2023, Universal teamed up with generative AI sound wellness startup Endel to create what they call “AI-powered, artist-driven functional music” (e.g. music for sleep, running, relaxation etc).
