IF MUSIC BE THE FUEL OF LIFE... CURATE!

One month ago The Business of Pleasure trailed a piece of research on music and mental health in our blog “Press Play And Carry On.”

The research paper,* published in full this week, details a recent study of the impact of the MoodyTunes app on the mental health of 70 participants, aged 13-25, over a four week period. Rather than go for a purely randomized study, the researchers attempted to balance the composition of the group between genders and two age ranges (13-18 year-olds and 19-25 year-olds) and each participant completing the study was given a $100 gift token.

The MoodyTunes app was launched on November 30, 2022, after three years of workshops and focus groups during which the team at Western Sydney University’s MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development worked in collaboration with Australia’s Black Dog Institute** and the Children and Young People Unit of the Mental Health Branch of the New South Wales Ministry of Health.

The mental health issues among children and young people that the app sought to address have increased dramatically in recent years, and while we might expect the pandemic, with its lockdowns and increased isolation, to have played a major role in this, it is believed that Covid served to accelerate an escalating mental health crisis which began in the 2010s, particularly among girls.

This new paper opens with the following extremely concerning stats:

‘One in seven young people experience a mental health disorder globally, with depression and anxiety among the leading causes of illness and disability among adolescents (World Health Organisation, 2024). Some countries have seen steep increases in the rates of mental health issues in young people in recent years.  In Australia, 39% of 16-24-year-olds had had a mental disorder in 2021, up from 26% in 2007 (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2022).  Similarly, in the UK one in five young people aged 8-25 had a probable mental disorder compared to about one in eight in 2017 (Baker and Kirk Wade, 2024). The US has seen similar increases (Lebrun-Harris et al 2022).’

The Act of Curation:

As I understand it from the new paper, the MoodyTunes app introduces an iterative process whereby children and young people can: 

a)     refine their listening habits to include music with positive effects on their mental health; 

b)    become more familiar with their own mental health issues and potential strategies to help ameliorate them.

'MoodyTunes is a smartphone app that was co-designed with young people that draws on principles of cognitive behavioural therapy to help young people learn better self-management of mood in the context of their music-listening behaviours. It is designed to make young people become more aware of how their own choices influence their mood and wellbeing, using music as a medium to subtly enhance mental health literacy and promote healthy mood regulation strategies through experiential learning. As users listen to music on Spotify as part of their usual daily activities, the MoodyTunes app prompts users to record how specific music affects their mood.  It creates ‘feel better’ playlists to challenge habitual listening patterns and foster greater self-awareness. Additionally, the app encourages users to reflect on thoughts and emotions triggered by music and introduces techniques such as cognitive reframing and challenging automatic negative thoughts.  It also directs users to short, informative articles on various mental health topics, and helps them understand when professional help might be needed and how to get it.’

My first reaction on reading the above was to question the morality of an approach that seemingly seeks to impose an artificial (and older-person-led) framework on the ‘natural’ development of young minds.  But judging from the results, I probably needn’t have worried:

‘Results indicated that young people did experience increases in mental health literacy, as well as decreases in stress and anxiety, after 4 weeks of app usage …They also believed that the app increased their awareness and confidence in managing mental health challenges, although there were no significant changes in coping self-efficacy over time.’

I’m not sure what ‘significant changes’ they expected after four weeks, or even what ‘over time’ means?  I’d like to think that during a particularly dark and stressful period, maybe five or ten years from now, one or more of the seventy participants might remember this particular tool in their brainbox, dip into their playlists, and find a little much-needed light at the end of the tunnel.

I also wonder how different the results might have been if the survey had included elements of gamification, rather than a (small) financial reward at completion?

Either way, I believe that if something as ‘natural’ as music curation can, with a few bells and whistles, tips and pointers, help build up some young people’s resilience and help them better navigate the stormy seas ahead of them… well frankly, full steam ahead!

DT 1 Aug 2025

*Sandra Garrido, Zareen O’Keeffe, Anthony Chmiel, Katherine Boydell, Barbara Doran, Quang Vinh Nguyen, Frontiers in Psychology, 29 July, 2025. Sandra Garrido, led the original team of researchers that developed the app.

**The Black Dog Institute is the only medical research institute addressing mental health at every stage from childhood to adulthood.