How Spotify Enhances Mental Health for the Elderly Through Music

Last Updated: March 27, 2026

Introduction

Many elderly people, particularly those in care homes, face mental health challenges, from low moods and loneliness to anxiety and memory loss. These challenges can have a profound impact on their quality of life, and solutions are often limited or unavailable. An effective and accessible remedy people are starting to turn to is music. In today’s digital age, older people have turned to music streaming platforms, such as Spotify, to curate personalised playlists from bygone years. 

In this article, we’ll explore how and why music has such a remarkable effect on the ageing brain, and how it can be harnessed, through Spotify, as a simple yet powerful tool for emotional support.

The Role of Music in Supporting Mental Health

75% of older adults say music helps them relax, and 65% report it lifts their mood; which underscores music’s powerful impact on both the brain and body, providing cognitive and emotional benefits for the elderly (Howell and Kullgren, 2024). 

Reducing stress and anxiety through calming music

Studies show that calming music lowers cortisol levels, the main stress hormone in our body. This helps to reduce body tensions and mental stress. A study of 104 randomised controlled trials with 9,617 participants showed that music interventions lowered both physical and psychological stress (Yu et al., 2022).

Boosting memory recall with familiar songs

Familiar songs can comfort and trigger memories in elderly. Creating personalised playlists through Spotify with songs from someone’s youth or important life events can stimulate these memories. 

This effect helps people with dementia especially well. Listening to music can reduce confusion by  keeping emotional connections intact. This happens because listening to favourite songs changes how the auditory areas of the brain connect with the hippocampus, the vital brain region for making memories.

Lifting mood and reducing depressive symptoms

Music therapy works well to help older adults with depression. Research shows that working with a certified music therapist for more than 60 minutes weekly gives the best results in reducing depression symptoms (Dhippayom et al., 2022). Elderly people in nursing homes felt less depressed after just 20 group music sessions over 10 weeks (Yu et al., 2022). This natural approach makes it suitable for long-term care settings.

Music Therapy: Clinical and Digital Approaches

Music therapy sessions enable the elderly to listen, sing, dance and compose to pieces of music with a professional therapist. These sessions help a person who could be in the early stages of dementia, recovering from a stroke or experiencing social isolation. A professional music therapist can tailor sessions to the needs of the person, but they can be expensive. The British Association for Music Therapy is a great directory for finding music therapists near you.

Using digital platforms, such as Spotify, make music therapy more accessible to people who can’t afford traditional sessions. Completing this therapy at home will likely focus more on the listening to music, rather than the creation. Spend time with a loved one, creating a playlist of favourite music with raging tempos to evoke feelings. Creating playlists together encourages your loved one to remember positive memories which can support their mental well being. The downside of a digital approach to music therapy is there isn’t support available from a professional and it won’t likely be as interactive as a traditional session.

How Spotify is Transforming Mental Health for the Elderly

Spotify is quietly reshaping mental health support for the elderly by offering easy access to music that sparks memories, lifts moods, and reduces feelings of isolation. Through curated playlists featuring uplifting songs, nostalgic tracks, and calming soundscapes, older users are finding comfort, stimulation, and even cognitive benefits. Spotify supports elderly users by enabling them to reconnect with music from their youth and discover new relaxing sounds, from their home, or care setting.

Personalised Playlists and Accessibility Features

The premade playlists available on Spotify and other music apps cover a range of genres, from classical music, to relaxing and calming music, to genres that evoke nostalgic feelings from bygone decades. These playlists can be from Spotify or other users on the platform.

These playlists include:

• Mood Booster: an all-round playlist, created based on your listening habits, with recommendations for new artists.
• Happy Pop Hits: Similar to Mood Booster, this playlist collates popular pop hits based on your listening habits.
• Happy Mix: A mix of songs collated to boost your mood, with new song and artist recommendations from Spotify.
• Love Yourself: A mix that improves self confidence, based on your listening habits and recommendations from the platform.
• Daylist: This playlist updates daily, and is inspired by your listening habits.
• All Out: These playlists are available from all decades from the 1950s to the 2010s, with popular songs released during the timeframe.
• Acoustic Mix: This playlist features relaxing music from a range of decades.

Also available on Spotify are podcasts and audiobooks (at an additional cost) covering a range of topics. If your loved one previously enjoyed reading, but they are unable to do so now, these additional listening options can help them feel engaged while experiencing a journey.

Spotify offers additional accessibility features for users, such as transcription of song lyrics and podcasts, font size increases and voice command. These changes make the platform more accessible to all users.   

Rediscovering Joy Through Spotify

Jean, an 86 year old widow from a quiet village in Norfolk, never considered herself particularly tech-savvy. A former primary school teacher and grandmother of four, her days had grown increasingly solitary after the passing of her husband and the gradual loss of mobility due to arthritis. Like many older adults, Jean experienced bouts of low mood, a sense of detachment, and creeping forgetfulness that she found both frustrating and frightening.

Her granddaughter, Sophie, introduced her to Spotify during a weekend visit. Initially sceptical, Jean warmed to the idea when Sophie helped her create a personalised playlist filled with familiar music from the 1950s and 1960s, familiar hits from her youth by Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Dusty Springfield, and The Beatles. The effect was almost immediate.

“I’d forgotten how much music could make me feel,” Jean said. “I heard ‘Que Sera, Sera’ for the first time in decades and it brought me straight back to dancing in the kitchen with my sister.”

Over time, Jean began incorporating music into her daily life using her Alexa for playing music, and even began exploring curated playlists like All Out 50s and Calming Acoustic. Music filled her home with warmth and familiarity, and according to her family, helped lift the fog that had settled over her in recent years.

Her GP noted improvements too. Jean reported fewer episodes of anxiety and more restful sleep. While she wasn’t formally diagnosed with depression or dementia, her engagement with Spotify clearly offered cognitive stimulation and contributed positively to her emotional health.

“I don’t feel as lonely anymore,” she shared. “It’s like the songs keep me company, and they remind me that I’m still me.”

Jean’s story is just one example of how a simple digital platform, when tailored to an individual’s preferences and past, can become a powerful tool in supporting mental health. In Jeans case, Spotify became more than just a source of entertainment; it became a gateway to memory, joy, and a renewed sense of connection to the world.

Conclusion

Spotify is proving to be far more than a music streaming platform, it’s becoming an unexpected yet powerful companion in the lives of older adults. By tapping into the emotional and cognitive power of music, Spotify offers elderly users a meaningful way to reduce stress, boost memory, improve physical well being, and lift mood. Its accessibility, personalised playlists, and nostalgic offerings make it a valuable tool in enhancing mental health, particularly for those facing isolation or early cognitive decline.

While traditional music therapy remains invaluable, Spotify provides a flexible, cost-effective alternative that can bring daily joy and comfort, especially when shared with loved ones. In a world that can often overlook the elderly in digital innovation, Spotify stands out as an example of how technology can be used.

References

Dhippayom, T., Saensook, T., Promkhatja, N., Teaktong, T., Chaiyakunapruk, N. and Devine, B. (2022) Comparative effects of music interventions on depression in older adults: A systematic review and network meta-analysis. eClinicalMedicine, 50, p.101509. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2022.101509 (Accessed: 12 May 2025)

Howell, J. and Kullgren, J. (2024) Music may bring health benefits for older adults, poll suggests. Available at: https://ihpi.umich.edu/news-events/news/music-may-bring-health-benefits-older-adults-poll-suggests (Accessed: 13 May 2025)

Yu, AL., Lo, AF., Chen, PY., and Lu, SG. (2022) Effects of Group Music Intervention on Depression for Elderly People in Nursing Homes. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(15), p.9291. Doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19159291 (Accessed: 12 May 2025)