Universal Music Group has formed a new partnership with Arianna Huffington’s Thrive Global. UMG will become the exclusive music partner for their Thrive Reset stress management tool.
In 2016, Huffington launched Thrive to help individuals, companies, and communities improve their wellbeing and performance.
The deal was announced as UMG chairman & CEO Sir Lucian Grainge and Thrive Global CEO Arianna Huffington hosted the Music + Health summit in Los Angeles, in association with Havas Health.
The focus of the event was exploring the direct relationships between music and health, including music’s therapeutic and medical benefits, showcasing innovators integrating music into products and services devoted to fitness and wellbeing.
The event brought together leading experts from across the fields of music, science, health & wellbeing, fitness and technology, including Grammy-winning producer Rick Rubin (via Zoom), in conversation with Dean Willow Bay on Creativity, Music & Wellbeing. Panel discussions featured prominent voices from science and medicine including Dr Lisa Miller, Dr Daniel Levitin, Dr Assal Habibi, Jaron Lanier and neurosurgeon and scholar Dr Ali Rezai.
Closing the event was a special conversation between Sir Lucian Grainge, Arianna Huffington and singer, businesswoman and actress Selena Gomez on music for mental health.
Speaking at the event, Sir Lucian Grainge said, “Throughout my life, I have experienced countless examples of how music can change people’s mood, comfort them in times of emotional crisis, or even help them physically. At Universal, I wanted this powerful relationship between music and health to not simply be a series of anecdotal observations, I want it to be a key component of our strategy, so we can really put music to work in ways it has never been used before. As a company, we are fundamentally rooted in the belief that music is a powerful force for good, and now we have the science and technology – with AI and therapeutics and more – to help accelerate these developments. It really is one of the most interesting and exciting new frontiers for music.”
Arianna Huffington said: “Music has always been a moving force throughout human history. And our goal with the conference was to move beyond anecdotes and highlight the science and the applications which confirm the power of music to impact our mental and physical health. We’re thrilled to partner with Universal Music Group to put this into practice by licensing Universal music for Thrive Reset, our 60-second stress reducing product that uses music and breathing to help move users from the sympathetic to the parasympathetic nervous system in just one minute.
“Universal’s catalogue will make Thrive Reset more engaging, personalised and joyful to drive even greater behaviour change through our platform, helping people reduce stress and connect each day with what they love about their lives. As we learned today from neuroscientists, historians, doctors and entrepreneurs, we’re just getting started with all of the ways we can leverage music, both for preventive health and to augment medical treatment, and I am looking forward to using today’s conference to accelerate this growing movement of music and health.”
In recent years, UMG has explored creative and commercial opportunities for music to play an even greater role in health and wellbeing, licensing its catalogue of music to more than 40 companies across the field. As well as soundtracking fitness, mental wellbeing, relaxation and meditation, UMG’s repertoire is also used alongside treatment for a broad array of serious/chronic medical conditions including stroke and traumatic brain injury recovery, Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s, anxiety, sleep and mental health conditions, among others.
During the event, UMG announced that it was licensing digital therapeutic company soundBrilliance, providing selections from its catalogue for use in closed clinical trials for music and health research.
UMG also introduced Sollos, its forthcoming music-centric wellness app that uses cognitive science and proprietary audio technology to support focus, relaxation and sleep.
The day featured a performance and conversation with Republic Records artist Chelsea Cutler, breathing session and performance from Decca Records’ pianist and composer Chad Lawson, and panel appearances from UMG partners including Apple Fitness +, Endel, Music Care, Universal Production Music, Thrive Reset and Havas Health’s Welltainment panel, a look at music’s power to help end the health equity crisis.
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