The Mental Health Remix: Can MusicTech Help Us Feel Better?

Forbes

18-04-2025

Science and creativity are often viewed as separate, but research shows they are connected. Scientific discovery relies on creativity at every stage—from forming questions to interpreting data.
Studies have shown that creative thinking involves the interplay between the brain's executive control network, which is responsible for focus, and the default mode network, which is associated with imagination and mind-wandering. Creative cognition draws on both associative and controlled processes.
Researchers have also found that listening to happy music can enhance divergent thinking, a key part of creativity. One study published in Frontiers for Young Minds showed that enhancing creativity in teens improved their problem-solving abilities. Pursuing creative activities has also been shown to boost scientific learning.
Mike Mantione, singer and songwriter of the punk band Five Eight and The Bad Ends, says that some of his first experiences with music came from playing 45s on a little Victrola he had.
"Songs like "Bridge Over Troubled Water," "Age of Aquarius," "Celia," and "Kodachrome," I'd listen to them over and over again, completely losing myself in them," said Mantione. "Music had a way of letting me almost live inside the song."
Mantione says in high school, he was dealing with what he now recognizes as a free-floating anxiety disorder.
"Then I discovered Quadrophenia, and it blew me away," said Mantione. "It felt like I had found a kindred spirit. Everything felt overwhelming, but somehow, that album made it feel like it might be okay. Just blasting it at full volume immediately lessened the anxiety."
For Mantione, music, especially loud, visceral rock and roll, became a physical and emotional release.
"The dancing, the volume, the immersion—it was like breaking apart the trauma I had carried from my early life," said Mantione. "Music gave me a way to cope with feelings that might've drowned me otherwise. Quadrophenia wasn't just an album—it was a lifeline."
While Mantione's experience is deeply personal, a growing number of companies are working to translate music's emotional impact into measurable health outcomes.
"It's not a stretch to see music as a form of medicine when you think about how it's being integrated into therapeutic environments," said Con Raso, music technologist and CEO of Tuned Global. "But for it to function like a drug, it needs more than emotional resonance—it needs precision in how it's selected, delivered, and measured. That's where technology plays a critical role."
"It's early days, but the trajectory is clear: music is starting to behave more like a treatment protocol than a playlist," said Raso. "But for it to function like a drug, it needs more than emotional resonance—it needs precision in how it's selected, delivered, and measured. That's where technology plays a critical role."
Gary Jones, CEO and co-founder of MediMusic, says music stimulates more parts of the brain than any other stimulus.
"It interacts with the amygdala, the hippocampus, auditory cortex — areas responsible for memory, emotion and sensory processing," said Jones.
"Music lets you step outside the spinning wheel of neurosis and despair," said Mantione. "Even violent punk rock can break up trauma like an earthquake—it shakes everything loose. It reminds you that you're alive."
Jones says MediMusic built on that science with Digital Drip, a system that dynamically generates music that mimics the human brain's natural response to audio cues like tempo, harmony and timbre.
"We're not offering a generic playlist," said Jones. "We're dispensing music in a way that changes heart rate variability, reduces cortisol and encourages the release of dopamine — all measurable biomarkers."
"It's not metaphorical when we call music a digital drug; we mean it in the sense that it's dosed, tracked, and adjusted based on real physiological outcomes," said Jones. 'That's how we're using music to help manage anxiety, chronic pain, and cognitive decline — not just to soothe but to treat.'
When Mantione was 21 years old, he went through a breakdown and voluntarily committed himself to an institution for care.
"Music creates a space where you can be held by something larger than your own pain," said Mantione. "When I went through a breakdown and came out of the hospital, writing music became part of my recovery," said Mantione. "Autobiographical songs—about depression, anxiety, psychosis, fear—gave me a framework to name what I was feeling and then reshape it."
"Songs like "Behind the Glass Wall" (from my pre-Five Eight days) and "In His Own Corner" allowed me to live in those feelings, but in a way that was constructive," said Mantione. "And when you perform those songs, they don't just disappear when the set ends—they stay with you. They echo in your head all day long, like a coping mechanism you can carry around."
Mantione says that when people come out to see Five Eight, he thinks they hear the music as a coping mechanism.
"Songs like "I'm Depressed Almost All the Time," "Suit of Sin," and "The Only One" are brutally honest, but they're also celebrations of survival. We're not wallowing—we're singing through it together. That's healing," said Mantione.
"We've shown in NHS environments that we can reduce anxiety pre-operatively or improve focus in patients with dementia," said Jones. "But it's also the tech itself — our AI dynamically changes music in real-time, responding to biosignals. That's no longer theoretical. It's happening in clinics now."
Jones says breakthroughs in the MedTech space have been the validation of adaptive music as an evidence-based tool and collaborations.
"It's no longer isolated pilots — we're now part of broader initiatives with Tuned Global and others, who help bring this tech to life in complex ecosystems."
While MediMusic focus on precision and biomarkers and provides their solution to music therapists, others in the space are building on the app model to deliver theraputic benefits.
Ariana Alexander-Sefre, CEO of Spoke, believes music will become a standard part of the mental health toolkit—especially for Gen Z, who already turn to it as self-medication.
The Walton Family Foundation reported in 2024 that 42% of Gen Z battles with depression and feelings of hopelessness, nearly double the rate for Americans over 25.
"Pharmaceuticals treat symptoms. Music tech treats the human," said Alexander-Sefre. 'Music harnesses the neuroscience of rhythm, tone and repetition to regulate the nervous system and support emotional processing—without side effects, waitlists, or stigma.'
Spoke combines music and mindfulness prompts to help Gen Z users reach specific mental states. Its artist-created content is guided by clinical psychologists, therapists, and neuroscientists.
'What makes it powerful is its accessibility. It meets people where they are, literally in their ears,' she said.
Alexander-Sefre says Spoke is building towards a future where music isn't just a vibe, it's a regulated, trackable,and effective health intervention. 'As AI personalization evolves, so will the ability to create hyper-tailored, clinically informed music journeys for stress, sleep, anxiety, focus and more,' she said.
Like Spoke, Spiritune uses a science-based approach to design emotionally resonant soundscapes—grounded in clinical neuroscience.
Jamie Pabst, CEO of Spiritune, says MusicTech offers a non-invasive approach to mental health that is scalable, culturally relevant and effective.
Spiritune uses neuroscience and personalization to deliver therapeutic sound experiences—and has secured $1.7 million in funding to scale its science-backed platform.
"With healthcare systems overwhelmed and waitlists growing, we simply can't rely on traditional mental health services alone," said Pabst. 'Music tech provides a culturally relevant, low-barrier solution that people can turn to anytime, anywhere, helping to support both clinical and non-clinical populations.'
Spiritune uses proprietary compositions and AI to guide users from negative states like stress and burnout into more positive states such as calm or determination.
A recent PLOS ONE study found that Spiritune outperformed other audio platforms in reducing negative emotional states—and was the only method that improved processing speed in under ten minutes.
"These results were experienced by 76% of participants," said Pabst. "And in clinical programs where Spiritune is embedded, we've seen a 60% improvement in mental health scores in just three weeks."
But Mantione says that even though technology makes access to music therapy immediate, it should not be over-monetized.
"The key, though, is avoiding the trap of over-monetizing the experience," said Mantione. "Music therapy needs to remain something human. That doesn't mean it can't be digital—it just means the delivery has to respect the vulnerability of the listener. Technology should support the journey, not flatten it."
Mantione adds that tech can also build a community you can rely on.
"You can listen to exactly what you need in the moment you need it. That's huge. But beyond that, tech can also build community," said Mantione. "If someone's isolated or in crisis, they can find not just a song—but a voice, a group, a story that mirrors their own."
Jones says patients deserve more than pills; they deserve holistic care.
"Music offers a non-invasive, evidence-based method to support mental and emotional wellbeing, whether you're managing anxiety, pain, or cognitive disorders," said Jones. "And let's not forget: it's a method patients like. They opt-in, they feel empowered, and they often report benefits quickly."
"That emotional acceptance, combined with physiological impact, is incredibly rare in medicine," added Jones. "And it's why we're investing so deeply in this work."
Behind this wave of innovation is a growing body of neuroscience research—much of which is shaping how these companies design and deliver sound-based therapy.
Rasso says this matters because it opens up a different way to think about care—one that feels more human and intuitive.
"When we talk about using music to ease pain, improve sleep, or reduce stress, we're talking about interventions that can be integrated into people's lives without friction," said Rasso. "And if we can build the systems around that — to deliver it securely, personally, and ethically — then music becomes not just part of entertainment but part of how we live better and feel better."
"It also matters for the music industry and the artists who are working hard to make a living," he said. This gives them other pathways than just having their music played on DSPs like Spotify and Apple Music."
Pabst says neuroscience is Spiritune's backbone.
"Everything we do is rooted in a deep understanding of how the brain and body respond to music," said Pabst. Our foundational team includes neuroscientists and clinicians who inform our research and product development, ensuring that the music we deliver is not only aesthetically pleasing but therapeutically effective."
"We are devoted to continuously analyzing the physiological, behavioral, and cognitive effects of our music to optimize outcomes, and our research partnerships ensure that we stay on the leading edge of music and brain-based therapeutic innovation," said Pabst.
MediMusic's Jones says that for them, the correlation lies in how music affects the nervous system and how MedTech can measure and harness those effects.
"Music triggers neurochemical responses — dopamine, oxytocin, even immunoglobulins — and changes in physiological states like heart rate or skin conductance," said Jones. "MedTech takes that further by embedding music within clinical protocols, measuring outcomes, and refining delivery through data."
"At MediMusic, we've treated this correlation with the same rigor as a pharmaceutical trial — applying for ethics approval, running controlled studies, and working toward digital therapeutics regulation," said Jones. "It's music meeting medicine, backed by evidence, not just feeling."
Mantione says that many people don't take music seriously enough.
"It's seen as entertainment, not treatment," said Mantione. "But if you ask someone to reflect on their life's hardest or most beautiful moments, odds are music was there—fused into the memory."
"I think part of the issue is that people think music therapy has to be clinical or that they're not "musical" enough to benefit from it," said Mantione. "But it's not about talent. It's about connection. It's about honoring the feeling and giving it rhythm and shape. That's where healing begins."
"The connection between music and medicine is obviously strengthening as more companies investigate the therapeutic applications of sound and the need for evidence-based outcomes," said Rasso. "Technological advancements lead to greater integration between content delivery platforms and biometric or behavioral data inputs."
Rasso says this enables the personalization of music to align with therapeutic goals, not just individual preferences. "The aim is not to eliminate emotion from music but to utilize it effectively within a clinical context."
Rasso points to the crucial choice of the music catalog in therapy. "While a back catalog might be suitable for dementia patients, it could be problematic for those with PTSD," said Rasso. "Catalog filtering is key. Biofeedback and real-time data loops can also be employed to identify the impact of music on patients and adjust it accordingly."
"Music has pulled me back from the edge more times than I can count," said Mantione. "It gives structure to feelings that otherwise might consume you. Writing and performing became my way of talking about things I couldn't say out loud. It's shadow work."
Mantione says there's a Hüsker Dü song, "I Will Never Forgive You," hit him like lancing a boil.
"It hurt, but it also released something. That's what music can do," said Mantione. "You integrate the darker parts of yourself through the art—and suddenly, it's not just pain anymore. It's something creative. Something powerful."
"I think about a show I saw in 1982—Black Flag and the Minutemen at SUNY Binghamton," said Mantione. "Watching Henry Rollins explode onstage, in this trance-like fugue state, ripping the skin off his back mid-performance, it was primal. And it mirrored the pain I was carrying."
"Music tech provides a culturally relevant, low-barrier solution that people can turn to anytime, anywhere, helping to support both clinical and non-clinical populations," said Pabst.
Pabst says Spiritune sees MusicTech as a modern therapeutic modality that can achieve outcomes comparable to frontline treatments like drug therapy and talk therapy. "It does thisthrough the emotional resonance of music, guided by the precision of neuroscience."
"For me, music has been a form of shadowwork. I've looked at songwriting as a way to grapple with things that are almost impossible to talk about—taking a common, painful feeling and turning it into a kind of celebration through song," said Mantione. "By integrating the shadow self through art, we can transform trauma, making it something creative and powerful."
"We are entering the age of ambient mental health care, said Alexander-Sefre. "Just as Spotify changed how we listen to music, music tech is changing how we experience wellbeing."
"Imagine streaming platforms that adapt to your emotional state in real-time, playlists that function like therapeutic interventions, or artist-led mental health content that doesn't feel like therapy but works like it," she added.
For artists like Mantione, that future is already personal. What the industry is working to build, he's lived—song by song.
"If you're a person in pain, music doesn't have to "fix" you. It just has to meet you where you are," said Mantione. "For me, it's never been about being cured. It's about staying connected—to the music, to the people, to the part of myself that still wants to fight to stay here."
"And if you're lucky, you find other people who feel the same way and sing along," said Mantione.
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Five Eight's first song in six years, 'Take Me To The Skatepark', is available on Spotify. Their documentary, Weirdo: The Story of Five Eight, is playing at indie film and music festivals around the country.