Universal Music Group and Apple Music announce Sound Therapy

The collection leverages cognitive science and UMG's roster of global superstars, adding subtle auditory beats to well-known curated tracks, aiming to help listeners focus, relax, and sleep

SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Apple Music is joining forces with Universal Music Group (UMG) to introduce Sound Therapy, an innovative audio wellness collection designed to help listeners attain clearer focus, deeper relaxation, and better sleep.¹

"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." 

"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."

Available exclusively on Apple Music, Sound Therapy blends songs subscribers already know and love with special sound waves designed to enhance users' daily routines, while retaining the artist's original vision. Backed by scientific research and powered by UMG's proprietary audio technologies, Sound Therapy harnesses the power of sound waves, psychoacoustics, and cognitive science to help listeners relax or focus the mind. 

The collection was crafted by a team of producers, scientists, and audio engineers at Sollos, a groundbreaking music-wellness venture incubated within UMG. Sound Therapy features extended, instrumental, and reimagined versions of popular tracks from acclaimed artists such as Imagine Dragons, Katy Perry, Kacey Musgraves, Ludovico Einaudi, AURORA, Jhené Aiko, Chelsea Cutler, and Jeremy Zucker, providing a premium listening experience. 

Sound Therapy features three categories — focus, relax, and sleep. Songs have been enhanced with auditory beats or colored noise to help encourage specific brain responses. Gamma waves and white noise — a whoosh-like combination of every sound frequency — may help with focusing; theta waves could aid in relaxation; and delta waves and pink noise — a deeper, gentler variation akin to rain or wind — might assist in achieving better sleep. 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. Learn more about Sound Therapy from Apple Music's Zane Lowe.

Apple has long been committed to enabling its customers to lead healthier, more active lives through offerings like Apple Watch, HealthKit, and Apple Fitness+. The company will work closely with Sollos and UMG to further establish scientific evidence supporting music and audio for improved wellbeing, and finding inclusive ways to bring these benefits to people around the world.

Maintain Focus

Link: https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/pl.6654fe3086ea43498ff05ed652d6367e
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The Focus category is designed to support improved cognitive performance and concentration, tapping into the power of gamma auditory beats to help listeners get in the mindset to achieve optimum focus. White noise masks distracting sounds to help listeners stay in the moment.

Time to Relax

Link:https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/pl.aa243b2eecf54b578949b64bf5923e7c
Embed: <iframe allow="autoplay *; encrypted-media *;" frameborder="0" height="450" style="width:100%;max-width:660px;overflow:hidden;background:transparent;" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation" src="https://embed.music.apple.com/us/playlist/sound-therapy-relax/pl.aa243b2eecf54b578949b64bf5923e7c"></iframe>

Songs in the Relax category are made for letting go, blending and infusing in theta auditory beats to help achieve ultimate relaxation.

Made for Sleep

Link:https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/pl.44a3d784112843c0b58b0db613eaebf4
Embed: <iframe allow="autoplay *; encrypted-media *;" frameborder="0" height="450" style="width:100%;max-width:660px;overflow:hidden;background:transparent;" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation" src="https://embed.music.apple.com/us/playlist/sound-therapy-sleep/pl.44a3d784112843c0b58b0db613eaebf4"></iframe>

The Sleep category is designed to encourage deeper sleep through an infusion of delta auditory beats or pink noise, which works similarly to white noise but uses natural sounds like rainfall and ocean waves.

Sound Therapy arrives on the heels of the brand-new Apple Music Chill radio station, created to serve as a sanctuary of sound listeners can turn to throughout their day to seek refuge. The station's programming is a continuous flow of chill highlights across genres, interspersed with mindful moments meant to remind listeners to make the time to find center and calm. Enjoy the velvety tones of discerning tastemakers like Brian Eno, Stephan Moccio, and Zane Lowe, who expertly take listeners through stories of calm and wellbeing in their own hosted shows.

Sound Therapy is designed to support a person's overall wellbeing. It is not intended to treat any medical condition.

About Apple Music 

Apple loves music. Apple revolutionized the music experience with iPod and iTunes. Today, the award-winning Apple Music celebrates musicians, songwriters, producers, and fans with a catalog of over 100 million songs, expertly curated playlists, and the best artist interviews, conversations, and global premieres with Apple Music Radio. With original content from the most respected and beloved people in music, autoplay, time-synced lyrics, lossless audio, and immersive sound powered by Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos, Apple Music offers the world's best listening experience, helping listeners discover new music and enjoy their favorites while empowering the global artist community. Apple Music is available in over 167 countries and regions on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, HomePod, CarPlay, Apple Vision Pro, and online at music.apple.com, plus popular smart speakers, smart TVs, and Android and Windows devices. Apple Music is ad-free and never shares consumer data with third parties. More information is available at apple.com/apple-music.

About Universal Music Group

At Universal Music Group, we exist to shape culture through the power of artistry. UMG is the world leader in music-based entertainment, with a broad array of businesses engaged in recorded music, music publishing, merchandising, and audiovisual content. Featuring the most comprehensive catalogue of recordings and songs across every musical genre, UMG identifies and develops artists and produces and distributes the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful music in the world. Committed to artistry, innovation, and entrepreneurship, UMG fosters the development of services, platforms, and business models in order to broaden artistic and commercial opportunities for our artists and create new experiences for fans. For more information on Universal Music Group, please visit universalmusic.com. 

SOURCE Universal Music Group