Warner Music has announced a partnership with MediMusic - a UK-based start-up - to help trial ‘music as medicine’ to relieve pain, anxiety and stress.
Through the partnership, the two companies explain, "MediMusic will conduct research testing in several closed randomised controlled trials in both the US and UK where they will deliver playlists from WMG’s catalogue of music to various patients and sample groups and observe how they respond in real-time. Beginning in Q1 of next year, this partnership with MediMusic will allow further trials to take place in hospitals and care homes".
"MediMusic’s proprietary algorithms extract the relevant features from the digital DNA of a piece of music", they add, "resulting in a fingerprint for healthcare use. Using AI, machine learning and the data about the patient, MediMusic then automatically creates personalised 20 minute playlists and plays the music through a streaming device called the MediBeat and a pair of headphones".
Confirming the alliance, Warner Music's VP Digital Strategy And Business Development Michael Baines says: “At WMG, we are focused on finding new ways for our artists and music to be used for good, to benefit society, and to empower an ecosystem of partners with similar goals. Together with MediMusic, we’re THRILLED to explore the transformative healing power of music in their 'music as medicine' trials - we are just beginning to scratch the surface of what’s possible".
“This partnership with WMG is hugely important in helping us on our global mission to prescribe music and medicine to ease anxiety, pain and stress”, adds Gary Jones, CEO of MediMusic.
“We’ve always known music is good for our soul. But there are thousands of medical papers and studies that prove music can also improve our health. Together with WMG’s catalogue of music, we can gather more data to improve our technology so that music can be used as medicine to help people around the world".