The Sound of Relief: Music’s Role in Easing Pain

Humans have been making music for at least 40,000 years. Millennia later, we’re still learning new things about the remarkable ways our bodies respond to sound. 

This year, scientists honed in on how music can help reduce the pain of a hospital stay, ease the trauma of war and displacement, enhance our ability to stay on task, and much more. There were over 700 music therapy studies published this year—and these five really had our team talking:

1. Using sound to ease the trauma of displacement.

Forced displacement from war and natural disaster is a growing threat to global health—one that a cross-cultural intervention like music may be uniquely well-suited to. 

Case in point: This year, displaced mothers and children from Ukraine reported significant mental health improvements after just eight weeks of a music therapy intervention. Caregivers showed fewer signs of PTSD, depression, and anxiety after the sessions, while children had improved communication and better socio-emotional functioning. According to their mothers, the kids were also able to “open up” more after playing instruments, singing Ukrainian songs, and engaging in musical rituals. 

2. Finding the right tune for focused work.

Music can help make monotonous tasks like computer work more enjoyable—but not just any song or playlist will do the trick. 

This spring, a randomized controlled study, Effects of Music Advertised to Support Focus on Mood and Processing Speed, found that Spiritune is significantly more effective at improving mood and performance during cognitive tests than other forms of music, such as Spotify’s “Deep Focus” playlist and popular songs from the Billboard Hot 100.

The study, which involved 196 healthy adults, concluded that Spiritune’s science-driven compositions were four times more effective than other music at reducing negative emotional states. An impressive 76% of participants were in a better mood after listening to them. Spiritune was also the only type of music to improve executive function and cognition.

It only took 7-10 minutes for these benefits to occur, demonstrating that listening to Spiritune is a fast and effective way to lock into work mode and improve productivity.

Get an inside look at the research here.

3. Demystifying the body’s response to sound.

New research suggests that listening to music is far from a passive process. When you press play on a song, your body and brain may actively synchronize with the rhythm and harmony of the track.

This year, a team of researchers led by Edward W. Large at the University of Connecticut reviewed existing literature to propose a new explanation for humans' musical response: the "neural resonance theory." This theory states that our brain waves actually synchronize to the rhythms of the music we listen to. Our urge to smile, dance, and groove with certain beats is the result of this physical embodiment. 

"This means that the human body is very much part of the music-making process. Neurons vibrate like a plucked guitar string. Seen on an EEG, brainwaves dance to drumbeats," reads a UConn recap of the study.

Concetta Tomaino, DA, the Executive Director of The Institute for Music & Neurologic Function and the Music Therapy Advisor at Spiritune, considers this one of the most important papers of the year because it takes fundamental principles of neuroscience and applies them in an exciting new way.

4. Investigating music’s potential for healthcare patients.

This year, experiments across the globe investigated how music can make hospitals and medical centers more comfortable for patients. 

In two general hospitals in Colombia, researchers found that both live music and pre-recorded music could reduce visitors’ anxiety and stress. Over in Ohio, a study across ten medical centers found that musical therapy sessions incorporating singing, playing instruments, and relaxation techniques tended to be the most effective at reducing pain in those with various diagnoses. 

5. Exploring music’s role in the operating room.

Music might be able to ease our stress even when we’re not consciously aware that it’s playing, a new study suggests. For this research, surgery patients were set up with noise-cancelling headphones before being put under anesthesia. Some of them listened to calming instrumental music during their procedures; the others didn’t listen to anything. 

Researchers monitored the amount of medication that both groups needed, and sure enough, patients who listened to music required lower doses of propofol (an anesthetic) and fentanyl (a painkiller) during their surgeries. This implies that music might help calm down the nervous system and stress response even when the brain is “offline.” 

“The unconscious mind still has areas that remain active. Even if the music isn't explicitly recalled, implicit awareness can lead to beneficial effects,” Farah Husain, a co-author on the study, tells BBC News. 

Furthermore, the music-listening patients had lower levels of cortisol (a stress hormone) once they woke up, leading researchers to believe that music therapy can be a helpful tool both during and after taxing events like surgeries. 

6. Reinforcing music’s role in neurodegenerative disease treatment.

Researchers have long suspected that music therapy might help those with neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. This year, two sweeping scientific reviews reinforced music’s potential to combat cognitive decline. 

First, a review of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) research concluded that music can “act as a guardian of memory in AD,” combating memory loss by enhancing activity in certain brain regions. The paper also points out that music can open up non-verbal communication pathways, allowing patients to engage with their caregivers in new ways.

Then, a comprehensive analysis of Parkinson’s research found that a type of music therapy known as rhythmic auditory stimulation (RAS) can improve certain symptoms of the disease, like balance issues and gait abnormalities, by up to 20 percent. 

Study authors support music therapy as a low-cost, minimally invasive option for neurodegenerative disease patients, and predict that it will only become more widespread in the years ahead. 

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As we get older, our relationship with stress tends to change. While everyone’s different, research shows that, on average, younger people tend to feel stress more regularly and intensely than older adults. A recent Stress in America™ survey from the APA found that new technologies and lingering after-effects of the pandemic are putting even more strain on teens’ mental health, leading some of today’s Gen Z adults and younger millennials to report feeling “completely overwhelmed” by stress.

Universities around the country have an opportunity to equip young adults with tools to manage this stress in college and beyond. A unique program at Yale University is showing how students can improve their mental health with holistic stress management tools - including, we’re proud to say, Spiritune.

The Good Life Approach

The Good Life Center at Yale is an organization that equips students with evidence-based skills for fostering mental, physical, social, and emotional well-being. They host events that help students unwind with practices like yoga and art, as well as carve out physical spaces for health and relaxation (think: a green room filled with plants and natural materials). 

The Center also provides students with tools they can use to combat stress in the moment. When the pressures of maintaining healthy relationships, getting good grades, and planning for the future start to add up, these science-backed techniques can help them get back to baseline.

“By offering accessible, evidence-based opportunities to build healthy habits, we help students build a more balanced and fulfilling college experience,” Bethel Asomaning, The Good Life Center’s 2025-2026 Director of Programming, tells Spiritune.

A Flexible Tool for Students

Starting this academic year, The Good Life Center is offering students a free subscription to Spiritune’s music library. This new offering comes on the heels of scientific research showing that music can be uniquely therapeutic for adolescents—providing an avenue to manage emotions, ease anxiety, and build self-confidence.

“By giving students a simple yet effective way to regulate their mood and enhance focus, this partnership advances our mission of making well-being a more frequent practice,” says Asomaning.

Here’s how it works: Using a customized link, students can sign up for a free Spiritune subscription with their school email address. Once enrolled, they receive full access to Spiritune’s music library and all customization features, allowing them to tailor the experience to their current needs and wellness goals. So far, over 100 students have downloaded the app and put it to use to sharpen focus before study sessions, calm the mind before sleep, and more.

Only a few months into the school year, early student feedback has been encouraging. “Many have shared that Spiritune has noticeably improved their ability to concentrate and manage stress while studying,” Asomaning says. 

Students appreciate the app’s flexibility and accessibility, too. Since its tracks can be played to meet the demands of any time of day—morning, afternoon, or evening—it’s a helpful companion from the dorm room to the library. Its customized music arrangements can also guide students through a number of emotions—from sadness to stress to boredom—quickly and effectively.  

“Spiritune’s scientific foundation, combined with its accessibility and usability, makes it a helpful tool for students as they integrate wellness into their rest, work, and daily rhythms of life,” Asomaning says.  

Music Medicine for a New Generation

We’re thrilled to see how our partnership with Yale is equipping young adults to more effectively manage their mental health. 

“Spiritune leverages a tool that young adults are already engaging with daily: music! The early results from Yale show how the app can help students in a low-stigma, intuitive way,” says Jamie Pabst, Spiritune Founder and CEO. “For us, this partnership reinforces a core mission: to make evidence-based musical support easy to use, widely accessible, and part of how the next generation takes care of their mental health.”

Like what you're reading? Sign up for Spiritune’s newsletter to get a monthly music therapy download straight to your inbox.

The New York City Marathon is coming up this weekend, which means thousands of athletes are busy preparing for the big day: gathering their gear, upping their carb intake, and of course, curating the perfect playlist. 

Working out just isn’t the same without music, with one survey finding that 65% of Americans polled said they’d have “no motivation” to exercise without their tunes of choice. But what is it about music that helps us crush our athletic goals? Can sounds really make a difference in our performance, or is it just a placebo effect?

Here’s the science behind how music impacts mental and physical performance, and how to strategically use sound to nail your next workout.

The Science of a Sweat Playlist

Music can turn around your mood within minutes, making it a valuable tool when you’re faced with a daunting workout in the gym, on the mat, or at the track. 

Research shows that exercising with music enhances positive mood more than working out in silence, which can lead to better results. In one 2018 study published in Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, male and female athletes running on a treadmill selected more challenging settings, ran with more intensity, and felt better while doing it when they were able to listen to music. 

In addition to improving mood, certain music can serve as a distraction from the pain and discomfort of exercise. For evidence, we can look to a 2023 study that observed 28 healthy people as they completed functional workouts. 

Participants were carefully selected for their opposing musical tastes: For every person who enjoyed listening to a particular song, another person disliked it. Athletes reported feeling less pain when listening to their favorite songs than they did when listening to music they disliked or no music at all. Brain scans verified that listening to preferred music was associated with reduced activity in brain regions that respond to pain. 

Some researchers attribute this physiological response to the "bottleneck hypothesis," which theorizes that the human nervous system can only process a certain amount of sensory input at a time. 

This suggests that music’s workout benefits aren’t just a placebo. Music is, in a sense, “competing” with exercise-induced pain to capture your brain’s attention—and winning.

There is also an element of entrainment—the syncing up of your body with music—at play when you exercise to your favorite tunes. Your heart rate and blood pressure tend to align with musical tempo, speeding up during faster songs and calming down during slower ones. Musical patterns may also influence the speed and intensity of your physical movements, as shown in this research on walking cadence. 

These responses can allow you to push through discomfort for longer and stave off mental and even muscular fatigue during exercise. With this comes an increase in performance and anaerobic power (the body's ability to produce high-intensity, explosive energy without using oxygen). Music-induced benefits have been recorded during all types of exercises and sports—from endurance to resistance training, from taekwondo to sprinting. And it’s not just the pros who stand to gain: the same effects have been seen in trained athletes and recreational exercisers alike.

Turning Up the Volume on Recovery

Don’t turn off the music as soon as your sweat session is over; it’s been shown to aid in exercise recovery as well.

One of the best indications of this is the way that music impacts heart rate variability (HRV)—a measure of the balance between the two branches of your nervous system: parasympathetic (rest and digest) and sympathetic (fight or flight). In short, a higher HRV signals that your body is more responsive to the parasympathetic nervous system, indicating that you are better equipped to recover from stressors. 

“Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is one of the most powerful indicators of how the body adapts to demands—physical, mental, and emotional… It helps reveal how recovered or resilient someone truly is,” says Alexi Coffey, VP of Product at WHOOP—a wearable health companion that turns complex physiological data into clear, actionable feedback, and includes HRV as one of its key metrics.

Certain music—particularly slow, relaxing classical tunes—has been shown to increase HRV, making it a potentially helpful post-workout tool for kickstarting recovery. 

While WHOOP has not done any formal research on the relationship between music and heart rate or HRV just yet, Coffey considers it a fascinating area. “Music can elicit powerful physiological responses—from lowering heart rate and promoting calm to increasing arousal and focus before competition,” she says.

Spiritune Spotlight: Crunch Fitness is equipping its members to prioritize recovery with its new Relax & Recover® wellness rooms. These spaces contain proven recovery tools like massage devices, red light therapies, infrared saunas, and, of course, a selection of music medicine. Spiritune and Crunch have joined together to incorporate Spiritune tracks into these spaces to help gym-goers relax, unwind, and recover faster so they can continue to show up as their strongest selves.

“Our Relax & Recover spaces used to play our gym music, which was not conducive to relaxing the mind and body,” says Carolyn Divone, a Senior Director at Crunch. “It is great that Spiritune’s composers have extensive knowledge on how one can achieve their emotional goals within minutes… Spiritune has been a perfect fit for this space.”

Putting It Into Practice 

Ready to start using music to your advantage more during exercise? First and foremost, choose songs or melodies that you actually enjoy listening to. Personal preference plays a surprisingly significant role in how your body responds to music, with preferred songs consistently outperforming non-preferred songs in terms of performance metrics. So if the songs on your gym’s loudspeaker don’t do it for you, tee up your own music to listen to on headphones.

As for what tunes to choose for the ideal workout playlist, it depends on the exercise you’re doing. Since your heart rate and blood pressure tend to synch up with musical tempo, you’ll want to consider whether a faster or slower beat better suits the session. Faster songs (above 120 beats per minute or so) can fuel fast, high-octane moves, while slower beats may be more effective for slower, more focused movements, as well as calming anxious energy before a daunting workout or recovering after exercise. (Wondering about the tempo of your favorite track? This tool can tell you the BPM of any song.)

Spiritune makes it easy to tailor your music to your workout goals. Download the app to create personalized tracks that use neuroscience to match the mood and intensity you are starting your workout with—and the one you want to eventually reach—with a few clicks of a button. No BPM calculations or endless music service scrolling required. Spiritune also seamlessly integrates into the Apple HealthKit to record your listening sessions alongside your HRV data, so you can work out—and wind down—more intentionally and effectively. Music to any athlete’s ears.