Music is widely described as important to wellbeing, but listening surveys and clinical trials measure different things. The statistics below separate self-reported engagement from randomized evidence on depression, anxiety, sleep and quality of life, while keeping each period, population and limitation explicit.
Key Music and Mental Health Statistics
The most broadly useful figures include:
- In 2022, 69% of respondents in IFPI’s 22-country survey said music was important to their mental health.
- In 2022, 76% of paid music-streaming users in the 22-country survey said music was important to their mental health.
- In 2022, people in the 22-country survey listened to music for 20.1 hours per week on average, compared with 18.4 hours in 2021.
- In 2022, 74% of respondents had used licensed audio-streaming services.
- In 2022, 50% of respondents had used short-form video apps for music-related engagement.
- In 2022, 88% of runners, 83% of yoga participants and 73% of cyclists used music to soundtrack their activity.
- In 2022, Nigeria respondents reported 30.4 hours of music listening per week on average.
- In 2022, 82% of Nigeria respondents said music was important to their mental health.
- In a 2025 review of clinical studies, music therapy reduced depression scores versus controls with SMD −0.97.
- In the same 2025 review, quality of life improved with SMD 0.51 among the included clinical comparisons.
- In the same review, sleep quality improved with SMD −0.61 among patients with depression.
- A 2025 review found the anxiety reduction trend among patients with depression was not statistically significant, at SMD −0.98 with P=0.06.
- A 2024 anxiety review synthesized 93 effect sizes from 51 music-therapy studies.
- That review included 3,276 participants, including 1,664 in music-therapy groups and 1,363 in comparison groups.
- In the 2024 review, self-reported anxiety outcomes showed g=0.410.
- In the same review, physiological anxiety-related outcomes showed a small, non-significant g=0.153.
- An older meta-analysis found overall music therapy reduced depressive symptoms with SMD −0.66.
- A transdiagnostic meta-review reported music-based interventions improved anxiety symptoms with SMD 0.47 across psychiatric populations.
- An older Cochrane review included 9 studies involving 421 participants in its review of music therapy for depression.
- The 2025 depression meta-analysis reported depression heterogeneity of I²=85%, showing why pooled effects require caution.
Contents
- Music and mental health: perceived importance and participation
- Music listening habits and mental health data across countries
- Music therapy and depression statistics
- Music therapy and anxiety statistics
- Music-based interventions, sleep and quality-of-life outcomes
- What the evidence limits mean
Music and Mental Health: Perceived Importance and Participation
The IFPI Engaging with Music 2022 report measures how people engage with music and how important they say it is. These are survey estimates, not diagnoses, prevalence estimates or proof that listening caused improved mental health.
In the 22-country survey, 69% of surveyed people said music was important to their mental health. The result rose to 76% among paid music-streaming users, while 72% of women and 70% of millennials gave that response. IFPI Engaging with Music 2022
| 2022 survey measure | Result | Population or geography |
|---|---|---|
| Music important to mental health | 69% | 22-country respondents |
| Music important to mental health | 76% | Paid music-streaming users |
| Music important to mental health | 72% | Women surveyed |
| Music important to mental health | 70% | Millennials surveyed |
The same report found that 69% said music was important when they exercised. Music use varied by activity: 88% of runners, 83% of yoga participants and 73% of cyclists used music to soundtrack their chosen activity. IFPI Engaging with Music 2022
Listening time also rose in the reported survey measure, from 18.4 hours per week in 2021 to 20.1 hours in 2022. Respondents used an average of six different methods to engage with music, and 58% had watched a music-focused television show or film in the previous month.
A further 32% had watched a music livestream, such as a concert, in the previous month. These engagement measures describe exposure and participation rather than mental-health outcomes. IFPI Engaging with Music 2022
Music Listening Habits and Mental Health Data Across Countries
The 2022 IFPI survey also provides context on how listening happens. Seventy-four percent used licensed audio-streaming services, 50% used short-form video apps for music-related engagement and 30% reported using unlicensed or illegal ways to listen to or obtain music.
| 2022 listening measure | Result | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Licensed audio streaming | 74% | 22-country respondents |
| Short-form video music engagement | 50% | 22-country respondents |
| Unlicensed or illegal listening or obtaining music | 30% | 22-country respondents |
| More ways to listen than ever before | 80% | Respondents aged 55–64 |
Eighty percent of respondents aged 55–64 believed there were more ways to listen to music than ever before. Among gamers, 44% had watched a virtual music concert on a gaming platform in the previous three months, compared with 21% of respondents aged 16–24; these are different population groups and should not be treated as a direct age comparison.
More than 500 different genres were named by at least one respondent in an 18-country subset containing 34,000 respondents. The count reflects any mention, not genre prevalence or popularity. IFPI Engaging with Music 2022
Country listening and perceived importance also varied:
- India respondents reported 25.7 hours of listening per week on average in 2022.
- China respondents reported 28.3 hours per week, while 66% said music was important to their mental health.
- Indonesia respondents reported 27.2 hours per week, and 67% said music was important to their mental health.
- Nigeria respondents reported 30.4 hours per week, and 82% said music was important to their mental health.
- Licensed audio streaming was reported by 96% of China respondents and 88% of Nigeria respondents.
These country figures are survey-specific self-reports. They do not establish that more listening produces better mental-health outcomes. IFPI Engaging with Music 2022
Music Therapy and Depression Statistics
Clinical reviews measure outcomes differently from listening surveys. A 2025 systematic review of randomized and controlled studies found that music therapy reduced depression scores versus controls with SMD −0.97, with a 95% confidence interval from −1.23 to −0.71, but rated the evidence very low because of risk of bias, heterogeneity and imprecision. Music therapy for patients with depression: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials
The same review reported SMD 0.51 for quality of life, with a 95% confidence interval from 0.19 to 0.83, and SMD −0.61 for sleep quality, with a 95% confidence interval from −1.03 to −0.19. The sleep result was short-term post-treatment evidence among patients with depression, and intervention formats and scales varied. Music therapy for patients with depression: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials
| Depression review result | Effect | Evidence context |
|---|---|---|
| Overall depression | SMD −0.97 (95% CI −1.23 to −0.71) | 2025 review; controls |
| Quality of life | SMD 0.51 (95% CI 0.19 to 0.83) | 2025 review |
| Sleep quality | SMD −0.61 (95% CI −1.03 to −0.19) | 2025 review; patients with depression |
| Anxiety | SMD −0.98 (95% CI −2.01 to 0.06; P=0.06) | 2025 review; not statistically significant |
The 2025 review’s subgroup estimates were SMD −1.22 for active music therapy, based on 10 studies; SMD −1.13 for receptive music therapy, based on five studies; and SMD −0.97 for music medicine, based on 11 studies. These subgroup estimates had very-low-certainty evidence, and the receptive estimate had a wide confidence interval. Music therapy for patients with depression: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials
An older meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials found an overall depression effect of SMD −0.66, with a 95% confidence interval from −0.86 to −0.46. It reported SMD −1.33 for music medicine, −0.57 for active music therapy across 20 studies and −0.73 for receptive music therapy across 14 studies. Effects of music therapy on depression: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Music Therapy and Anxiety Statistics
A multilevel meta-analysis of music therapy for anxiety included 93 effect sizes from 51 studies and 3,276 participants, including 1,664 in music-therapy groups and 1,363 in comparison groups. Its overall effect was g=0.357, with a 95% confidence interval from 0.201 to 0.514. Music therapy for the treatment of anxiety: a systematic review with multilevel meta-analyses
The distinction between self-report and physiological outcomes is important. Self-reported anxiety outcomes showed g=0.410, while physiological anxiety-related outcomes showed a smaller, non-significant g=0.153 with a 95% confidence interval from −0.153 to 0.400. Music therapy for the treatment of anxiety: a systematic review with multilevel meta-analyses
| Anxiety outcome | Effect | Evidence base |
|---|---|---|
| Overall anxiety | g=0.357 (95% CI 0.201–0.514) | 51 studies; 93 effect sizes |
| Self-reported anxiety | g=0.410 (95% CI 0.236–0.585) | 50 studies; 61 effect sizes |
| Physiological outcomes | g=0.153 (95% CI −0.153–0.400) | 13 studies; 32 effect sizes |
A prior randomized-trial meta-analysis reported SMD −0.31 among participants younger than 60 and SMD −0.45 among those aged 60 or older. It also reported SMD −0.24 for interventions lasting fewer than 12 sessions and −0.59 for interventions lasting at least 12 sessions; these observational subgroup comparisons do not establish an age effect or a dose threshold. Effects of music therapy on anxiety: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Music-Based Interventions, Sleep and Quality-of-Life Outcomes
A transdiagnostic meta-review covering psychiatric populations across diagnoses reported that music-based interventions improved anxiety symptoms at the end of treatment with SMD 0.47, a 95% confidence interval from 0.27 to 0.66, across 23 comparisons and 1,084 participants. Its GRADE certainty was very low because different diagnoses and intervention types were pooled. Evidence for music therapy and music medicine in psychiatry: transdiagnostic meta-review of meta-analyses
For depression specifically, the 2025 review reported improved sleep quality with SMD −0.61 and improved quality of life with SMD 0.51. Only two studies contributed to the sleep analysis, and the instruments and treatment contexts for quality of life varied. Music therapy for patients with depression: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials
An older Cochrane review of music therapy for depression included nine studies involving 421 participants; 411 participants contributed to its short-term depression-related meta-analysis. It found a short-term anxiety reduction of SMD −0.71 among people with depression receiving music therapy, but the evidence was low quality and short-term. Music therapy for depression
These outcomes should be read as pooled standardized effects, not percentage improvements. They also should not be treated as substitutes for clinical care or as guarantees for an individual listener.
What Music and Mental Health Statistics Say About Evidence Limits
Heterogeneity shows how much results differ across studies, populations, interventions and outcome measures. The 2025 depression review reported I²=85%; the older depression meta-analysis reported I²=83% overall, I²=86.3% for active therapy across 20 studies and I²=76.3% for receptive therapy across 14 studies. Music therapy for patients with depression: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials Effects of music therapy on depression: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
The anxiety evidence also illustrates why outcome choice matters. The physiological pooled interval ran from −0.153 to 0.400 and crossed zero, while the 2025 depression review’s anxiety result had P=0.06 and a confidence interval crossing zero.
The anxiety review found no evidence of funnel-plot asymmetry, reporting Egger’s intercept −0.033 and P=0.886. That test does not establish the absence of publication bias or prove clinical effectiveness. Music therapy for the treatment of anxiety: a systematic review with multilevel meta-analyses
The older depression meta-analysis reported P<0.001 for both the overall music-therapy depression effect and the music-medicine effect. Statistical significance does not remove concerns about heterogeneity, bias, durability or generalizability, so the confidence intervals, populations and follow-up timing remain essential to interpretation. Effects of music therapy on depression: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials