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Jul 11, 2024

Can Music Help Us Feel Less Alone? Here’s What Research Says

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While listening to music can be done alone, it’s never a solitary activity. Just consider how certain songs make you think of a friend, remember a lover, or feel deep kinship with an artist. Musical notes weave together intricate connective webs—even when they’re played for an audience of one.

But why, exactly, does music bond us? How do different sounds engage our sense of community and connection? And how can we use them to combat the global loneliness crisis? Let’s explore these questions, together.

Untangling music’s invisible ties

The fact that humans have been making music for millennia (the oldest instrument is thought to be around 40,000-60,000 years old) shows that doing so carried an evolutionary advantage. Historians theorized that it helped with mate selection, building social cohesion, and fostering feelings of belonging. Before the days of Facebook and online dating, music was the original community builder.

Advancements in neuroscience equipment have allowed us to put these theories to the test by monitoring changes in the brain as people listen to music in real time. And indeed, music seems to “light up” neural regions associated with social bonding. Here’s a peek at what’s happening underneath the hood once you press play:

1. Your body fills with the love hormone

One way that music spurs connections is by increasing levels of oxytocin, the “love hormone” that makes us feel closer to others, explains Concetta Tomaino, DA, the Executive Director of The Institute for Music & Neurologic Function and the Music Therapy Advisor at Spiritune.

While physical touch is a well-known oxytocin activator, research shows that songs—whether fast-tempo or slow-tempo—can also cause our bodies to release the hormone. Elevated oxytocin levels have been linked to increased trust, generosity, and ability to infer the mental state of others, as well as decreases in stress and anxiety.

2. Your empathy is engaged

Empathy—or our ability to relate to others, even if we don’t share their experiences—also seems to have musical roots. One study of schoolchildren found that those who took music classes for an hour a week had significantly improved empathy scores compared to their peers who didn’t take music by the end of the academic year.

As for why making or listening to music would engage empathy, researchers suspect that it could be because of the way it allows us to dip into the emotion of a song—be it excited, joyful, or melancholy—without changing our lived experience. “Indeed, empathy is putting oneself in other people’s shoes and feeling what one thinks others are feeling, but maintaining the distinction between self and others, while listening to music involves a similar process of viewing from a distance as in empathy,” write psychologists in a 2021 Frontiers in Psychology paper.

3. Awe expands your perspective

Think to the last time you got goosebumps, felt chills, or shed a tear in the face of something immensely beautiful or inspiring: You were experiencing awe, another emotion that’s routinely tied to music.

Awe is what we feel when we encounter something that is vast (be it an endless view or a song that transcends space and time) and makes us feel small by comparison. Psychology researchers are fascinated by this emotion because of the unique way that it seems to reduce our sense of self-focus and expand our perspective. In turn, awe is associated with generosity, humility, and other cornerstones of healthy relationships.

4. You sync up with those around you

Researchers around the world are now equipping musicians and concertgoers with eyesight trackers and portable EEGs in order to study the unique ways that shared musical experiences bring us together.

It seems that when we are listening to music with others, our heart rates, breathing patterns, and movements tend to synchronize—especially during emotionally powerful crescendos. This musical entrainment might blur our sense of self vs. other and change the way we interact with our fellow concergoers. It’s why you might feel more connected to those around you during a concert than you would during, say, a museum trip or a sports match.

“Shared musical experiences bond us with each other even if we don't know each other,” explains Tomaino. “It can build that sense of community.”

What we gain when we share music

Tomaino has witnessed the power of music to bring people together firsthand. She tells the story of a music therapy support group that she started for veterans with PTSD around 10 years ago. The vets didn’t know each other going into the group, and she remembers that they were all very guarded at first.

It wasn’t until engaging with the music that they started being honest with each other about their struggles. “They were able to open up; they bonded with each other so much… It was this vulnerable exploration through music that allowed them to feel safe,” Tomaino recalls. To this day, those in the class stay connected through sound—they make music together, attend concerts as a group, and write songs for each other when someone is going through a tough time.

Tomaino has also seen music help break down walls in her work with dementia patients. “When they share familiar music, there's a sense of knowing and a sense of awareness that's still available to them,” she says. “It’s in those shared moments that they’re able to relax, feel safe, and connect.”

These stories show how music can be used not only to forge fast friendships at concerts but to actively improve mental and cognitive health in the long run.

How to tackle loneliness using music

In the midst of a loneliness epidemic compounded by COVID-19, Tomaino has observed that doctors are increasingly writing “music prescriptions” for patients who feel isolated, recommending they sing in the choir, join a band, or go to concerts as preventative mental health measures.

If you, too, are feeling lonely, getting involved in your local musical community might help. However, you don’t necessarily need to shell out for concert tickets or learn a new instrument to increase your oxytocin levels, decrease your stress, and feel more connected: you can just pop on your headphones or turn up your speaker.

Using Spiritune can help guide your sonic journey towards community. “Lonely” is one of the starting states on the app, and if you choose it, you’ll be served up compositions that utilize neuroscience and music therapy principles to carry you out of this headspace.

“The way we designed the parameters for the music in Spiritune has to do with training different emotional levels—be it the tempo, the pace of the music, or the envelope of sound,” explains Tomaino. She’s hopeful that someday soon, Spiritune will be recognized as a mental health therapy in clinical settings, and doctors will be able to prescribe it to patients as a (side-effect free) medicine that’s covered by insurance.

Until then, Spiritune is proud to be provided in clinical settings through impactful clinical partners like Galileo Health, or through military family support groups like Blue Star Families, or through many employers as a mental health resource. Alternatively, the low-cost tool is yours to use any time you’re craving the sense of peace, relaxation, and awe that music is so uniquely positioned to deliver. Just download Spiritune on the App Store or Google Play.

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Mar 2, 2024

“Sad Girl” Music and the Iso Principle

“Sad girl” pop isn’t a new genre, but it’s been having a renaissance over the last decade. That’s thanks to artists like Billie Eilish, Gracie Abrams, Olivia Rodrigo, Japanese Breakfast, Phoebe Bridgers, and so much more who are dropping hits lilting in melancholy.

It also comes at a time when the generations consuming pop music are increasingly open and intimate about their mental health, and music has long been a natural vehicle for people to self-regulate their emotions.

"There's a cliche about pop that it represents a retreat from reality, an escapist fantasy world where listeners get to leave their fears and anxieties in a vision of Katy Perry's 'Teenage Dream' or fun.'s 'We Are Young,'" Nate Sloan, host of Switched on Pop and assistant professor of musicology at USC Thornton School of Music, told Grammy news. "But modern listeners — especially young people — are pushing back against that paradigm, celebrating artists like Billie Eilish, Halsey, and girl in red, who don't shy away from the troubles of the world but sublimate them into their music."

He adds that this music helps them deal with their own "lived realities."

And so it makes sense that music streaming services are teeming with these soft and somber “sad girl” playlists, ones that listeners might turn to when they’re feeling sad or overwhelmed or wistful.

Music psychology expert Dr. Michael Bonshor told Esquire that people, especially young people, can and often use music to complement emotions. “If we want to continue feeling a certain way, we can choose songs that reinforce it. If we want to change our mood, then we can use music to change it, too.”

He adds that listening to “sad girl” music doesn’t inherently suggest someone is sad. They might want to relax, since that music tends to be slower, less intense, and melodic.

And a carefully curated “sad girl” playlist might cater or facilitate a mood, to a point. But if you’re looking to move from one undesired emotion (sadness, anxiety, stress) to a more desired one (content, focused, calm), you’ll want to get a bit more scientific with your music choices.

That’s why, at Spiritune, you won’t find a Billie Eilish song on one of our playlists. It’s a great song that might be slightly self-soothing, but it doesn’t follow the iso principle.

The iso principle is all about the journey. It follows that, if you’re trying to achieve a certain emotion, the music should first match your current emotional state and then gradually shift toward music that aligns with how you’d like to feel.

We utilize the iso principle as a cornerstone in our Spiritune music compositions. That's why, when you open up the Spiritune app, we always ask you how you *currently* feel, and then how you want to feel.

When the music meets the user where they are, it helps them feel validated, seen and embraced in whatever emotion they’re feeling. Then as the musical features gradually shift towards their desired emotion, the listener is able to feel tangible relief as the music helps gently guide them towards where they want to be.

“Our music is all about facilitating emotional transitions, offering a pathway to catharsis and understanding, like a musical GPS, leading you through your ups and downs,” Spiritune founder Jamie Pabst says. “In a world where mental health seems to be deteriorating by the day, people are craving tunes that get them, that speak to their real-life struggles, offering a shoulder to lean on and a hand to pull them through.”

When you think about “sad girl” music from the lens of the iso principle—or the power of musical transition on our mood—it makes sense that someone might turn to it when they’re already feeling sad, or want to feel a little wistful.

But to move from one mood to another, you can’t simply dwell in the same musical space and hope to magically feel like a new person.

There’s a science to the transition - and that’s where the magic happens.

Mar 22, 2024

Spiritune joins Galileo’s suite of mental health care services

We’re excited to share that modern medical practice Galileo now offers Spiritune as part of its mental health services offered to employers with 20+ employees.

What exactly does that mean? Well, it means that employers that partner with Galileo this year can provide their workforces with our therapeutic music app for a more integrated and comprehensive health care offering.

Galileo works with employers to make 24/7 access to the highest quality virtual primary and specialty care (including mental health care) more affordable – for employees and employers alike.

Galileo’s mental health care programs have proven deeply successful when it comes to reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression and generally improving overall wellbeing: 90% of patients experienced clinically significant improvement in six weeks and the average time to find a mental health treatment plan is 12 hours compared to the national average of six weeks.

That success can be attributed to Galileo’s evidence-based and programmatic approach to therapy and coaching.

And the medical practice is already seeing success with the recent inclusion of Spiritune: Over the course of a six week period, patients with access to music-based therapy saw a 30% improvement in their mental health scores.

“Our partnership with Galileo represents what exceptional care can look like from a whole-person health perspective. I’m thrilled to see our shared vision of holistic, integrated care come to life, where multidimensional care can be achieved for multi-dimensional people,” Spiritune founder Jamie Pabst says. “By combining Spiritune's therapeutic music approach with Galileo's modern medical practice, we've already seen significant improvement in mental health engagement and outcomes, representing a great example of what a great integrated care partnership can look like, and I’m excited that Spiritune is now available through Galileo employer contracts going forward.”

We deeply align with Galileo’s mission to make health care more accessible, affordable, and effective. Since Spiritune's inception, we've been dedicated to delivering science-grounded music medicine at your fingertips, so we are thrilled to extend our mission as part of Galileo’s suite of mental health solutions to broaden the clinical benefits of music through this integrated care partnership.

The full suite of offerings also include primary-care physician led mental health care, a self-guided CBT skills program, and virtual therapy and coaching.

"It can be challenging for people to ascertain not only when to seek out mental healthcare but also which level of services are appropriate for their current symptoms,” Kristen Scarlett, Galileo’s behavioral health lead, says. “Galileo’s integrated approach allows providers to identify behavioral health needs early, and the robust suite of mental health services allows people to engage in care at the right level so their treatment is both efficient and effective.”

You can read more about how Galileo is deepening their integrated behavioral healthcare offering for employees with Spiritune here.

May 8, 2024

From Waves To Wind: How Nature Sounds Support Our Health.

The music starts with the soft, universal sound of rain. Gradually, hand pans and chimes come in to form a pattern with eventually rhythm and momentum. By the end of the arrangement, everything melds together into an unexpectedly delicious sonic soup.

This nature-inspired track from Spiritune, “Release Control,” proves how captivating, enriching, and ultimately health-promoting the sounds of the outdoors can be once we give them our full attention.

How the brain processes nature sounds

By now, many of us know (and intuitively feel) that spending time outdoors can boost brain function, ease stress, and lower blood pressure. The role that the sounds of nature play in this equation is less obvious, but Daniel Bowling, Ph.D., an acoustic instructor at the Stanford School of Medicine and neuroscience advisor at Spiritune, has a few ideas.

“One general thing about environmental sound is that it has a specific shape in its frequency spectrum,” Bowling says. He explains that nature sounds like waves, wind, and certain animal calls carry more low-frequency energy, which gives them a lower pitch. While higher-frequency sounds (think: motors, machines, and television static) demand our attention, these lower-frequency sounds tend to be more stable and comforting.

Indeed, research shows that natural sounds are better at facilitating recovery from stress than more anthropogenic (human-caused) ones. Plus, certain sounds, like running water, rustling leaves, and birdsong, convey that we are in a safe, resource-rich environment, further promoting recovery and easing worry. Bowling adds that they can also form an “acoustic blanket” that masks less pleasing sounds like honking cars or whirring machines.

This is why Spiritune weaves low-frequency nature sounds into so many of its personalized tracks. The low-frequency tones of nature are expertly deployed throughout its compositions to help guide the listener towards their desired state—be it relaxed, content, or excited. Spiritune draws upon expertise in music therapy and neuroscience to play these nature-inspired sounds at just the right moments, effectively taking the guesswork out of music medicine for any listener seeking to self-medicate through music. “Listening to nature sounds alone lacks the dynamic journey that music provides. At Spiritune, we understand that to truly harness the healing power of nature, it is beneficial to be woven into a rich musical tapestry,” says Jamie Pabst, Spiritune’s Founder & CEO. “Our compositions offer not only the calming essence of nature but also the depth and variety that keep the mind engaged and the spirit uplifted with other musical features. In doing this in a nuanced way, we can help listeners with multi-dimensional needs with multi-faceted music."

Because, as Bowling caveats, “not all nature sounds are created equal.” While some are steady and relaxing, others can be unpredictable and arousing. A cacophony of insects, birds, and mammals in a jungle will likely raise alarm bells—especially in groups of people who didn’t grow up with these sounds. Just as all cultures have different tastes in food, there’s a level of cultural variability to natural soundscape preferences. This is why Spiritune opts to use universally pleasing nature sounds in its tracks, and stays away from more polarizing ones.

The same landscape can also sound vastly different based on the creatures present. “Organisms evolve to acoustically structure their signals in special relationships to one another—cooperative or competitive—much like an orchestral ensemble,” sound ecologist Bernie Krause writes in The Great Animal Orchestra. This ensemble is constantly playing new tunes as animals change their voices. In The Sounds Of Life, Karen Bakker explains how bats, for example, have dozens of calls they can use in different situations. These can include “territorial songs, courtship whistles, physical distress calls, alarm calls, foraging coordination calls, and instructional calls that guide others,” she writes. Tuning into these extraordinarily complex, layered soundscapes is a way to tune out the sounds of the mind—which can be needlessly critical, fearful, and downright exhausting.

Coming off winter’s relatively quiet, spring is the perfect time to watch (or rather, hear) the world around you come back to life again.

How to start a nature sound practice this season

Everyone can tune into the sounds of spring to change their perspective and boost their mood. Here are a few ideas on how to get started:

Head to a familiar landscape: As Bowling points out, we all have our own preferences when it comes to nature sounds. The songs of the outdoors can also evoke deeply personal memories. If you grew up vacationing on the coast, you might find the sounds of waves particularly relaxing, for example, so you can experiment with heading to the water to allow your mind to wander back in time.
Consider how you want to feel: Since natural soundscapes are so varied, they can make us feel every type of way. Sure, you can head to a trickling stream when you want to feel relaxed, but you can also take a trip to a waterfall when you want to feel energized, or go to a calm meadow when you want to be more focused. Customize your sound practice based on your desired state.
Tune into Spiritune: Spiritune makes it possible to feel better using a nuanced deployment of musical features that often includes nature sounds or tones of similar frequencies even if you live in a bustling city or don’t have time to sneak out for a walk. Just open the app, choose what mental state you want to move towards, and listen to an expertly designed track that combines musical features and nature sounds to get you there in minutes.
When in doubt, go to the water: Anecdotally speaking, many people find water sounds soothing, and there’s scientific evidence to back this up: In research on soundscapes in U.S. national parks, water sounds led to the most positive outcomes for human health. This makes sense, considering that we depend on water for life and it’s great at masking less pleasant noises. Put this research into practice by seeking out the sound of water—be it from a stream, a park fountain, or a recording—as part of your well-being routine.
Give birdsongs your full attention: In the national park study, birdsongs were also found to be very effective at relieving stress and annoyance, and more recent research concludes they can also reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety, and paranoia. Fascinatingly enough, with every 10% increase in bird species diversity in an area, the people living there tend to have a higher life satisfaction equivalent to a 1.53 times increase in income. Live a richer life by turning off the podcast while you walk and tuning into the birdsongs around you instead.

Nature sounds clearly have a strong influence on us, but we impact them too. As our anthropogenic noises become louder, they threaten natural soundscapes. These soundscapes are an invaluable natural resource like any other, so be sure to cherish them by exploring nature quietly and respectfully.