You’d think Apple would know that music is a passion not passive. They’ve collected a kerjillion listens from users, right? The new “wow” Apple Music feature Sound Therapy, offers “songs [which] may be “enhanced with auditory beats or colored noise to help encourage specific brain responses” according to 9 to 5 Mac.
🤔 mmm okay but what if I want to program myself instead of being manipulated by your tame choice of artists? I know best what relaxes or gives me focus.
Perhaps UMG made an exclusive deal with Apple. “Sound Therapy blends songs subscribers already know and love with special sound waves designed to enhance users’ daily routines, while retaining the artist’s original vision. Backed by scientific research and powered by UMG’s proprietary audio technologies.”
I’m cool with sound waves and background noise. I’ve been using Binaural Beats for ages. But hey Apple, Sound Therapy is a non-starter fail.
Here’s my solution. Start with a song. Use the existing Create Station feature. Add the following controls: ability to add beats and or noise relevant to the users desired purpose. Such as Focus, Sleep, Relax but adding Sex, Workout and Moving (trains, planes and autos).
Then take it one level further with the ability to “seed” the station with more songs. (Pandora used to offer this.) This enables further personalization for the user – enabling tuning of the algorithm. For example: Create a station from Brian Eno’s Music for Airports track 3, then seed it with an Arvo Pärt choral piece.
Because, when it comes to Wellness, one size does not fit all.