Can music be used as a medicine?
Pandora, Spotify and other music streaming services are trying to predict what users love to listen to, based on their tastes and what's popular with people nearby. People create playlists for certain moods and activities, go to the gym, go to bed. But imagine those apps were able to predict exactly which song would be best to help you focus or slow your heart rate after a run. (“You seem stressed, what about Sigur Ros?”) And if technology could predict how music affects the body, it could suggest music to treat symptoms of an illness?
The Sync Project
That idea is the basis of The Sync Project , a Boston based company. His mission is, as CEO and co-founder Alexis Kopikis puts it, “To find out if music can really be used as a medicine.” The effect of music on body and mind has long been recognized anecdotally, who hasn't tried to use music to influence their mood.? Kopikis says it's just that the technologies in both the music and the health industry are advanced enough to provide the opportunity for this research.
