Can Music Help You Sleep?
Of everything people use to help them settle at night, music has a reasonably encouraging evidence base - which is not the same as saying it is a treatment for sleep problems.
Research suggests that listening to calming music around bedtime may improve perceived sleep quality for some people. Understanding what music can do, and what it cannot, makes it considerably more useful.
What the evidence supports
Studies and reviews have found that listening to music before bed can improve self-reported sleep quality for some people. Research has included younger and older adults, as well as people already experiencing difficulties with sleep.
The effects aren't dramatic, and individual responses vary.
There are several possible reasons music might help. Slow, predictable sound can make the period before sleep feel less stimulating. Music may mask intermittent background noises such as traffic, plumbing or sounds elsewhere in the house. And for some people, having something undemanding to listen to gives a busy mind somewhere else to place its attention.
What the evidence does not establish is a particular frequency or piece of music that reliably makes everybody sleep.
There is no recognised "sleep frequency", no single tone proven to induce sleep, and no recording that should be presented as a treatment for insomnia.
If difficulty sleeping is persistent or significantly affecting everyday life, music shouldn't replace appropriate professional advice or established treatments for insomnia.
What makes a recording work?
The qualities that tend to make sense for bedtime are wonderfully ordinary.
** Slow and spacious. A slower tempo or music without an obvious pulse can feel less demanding as bedtime approaches.
** Predictable. Sudden changes tend to bring our attention back to the recording. Music that develops gradually is easier to allow into the background.
** Consistent volume. Large differences between very soft and louder passages can be distracting, particularly when you're beginning to drift off.
** A softer sound. Many people prefer warmer, less bright recordings at bedtime, although this is very much a matter of personal preference.
** Familiarity. Returning to the same recording can remove the temptation to keep wondering what is coming next.
Lyrics are worth considering too. Some people find words difficult to ignore because they naturally start following the language. If that's you, instrumental music, drones, ambient textures or sounds without recognisable words may be easier to leave in the background.
The important thing isn't whether a recording meets a perfect formula. It's whether you can stop actively listening to it.
How to set it up
** Volume: Keep it comfortable and relatively low. The aim is to create an atmosphere rather than fill the room with sound.
** Duration: Choose something long enough that you're unlikely to hear it finish while you're still awake. A gradual fade can also feel less intrusive than an abrupt ending.
** Playback: Use whatever feels comfortable for you. A bedside or nearby speaker works well for many people because there's nothing to wear. If you prefer headphones, choose something comfortable for the way you sleep and keep the volume sensible.
** Autoplay: Consider switching it off. The next recording chosen by a streaming service may have a completely different volume, tempo or character from the one you selected for bedtime.
There is no perfect setup. If you've found something simple that works comfortably in your bedroom, there is little reason to complicate it.
The routine may matter as much as the recording
One of the useful things about sleep music is that it can become part of the way you finish the day.
The same recording, or the same kind of music, played around the same point each evening can become familiar. Over time, putting it on may simply become associated with getting into bed, turning the lights down and leaving the day behind.
That doesn't necessarily mean the music itself is making you sleep. It may simply have become part of a familiar routine that marks the end of the active part of your day.
And that suggests something rather reassuring: you don't need to keep searching for the perfect sleep frequency or the ultimate sleep recording.
If you've found something you enjoy and can comfortably stop paying attention to, stay with it for a while.
If it isn't working
Music can be part of winding down, but it can't solve every reason somebody might be awake.
Light, temperature, caffeine, alcohol, noise, irregular sleep patterns, stress and countless other factors can affect sleep. Sometimes there is also no obvious reason for a difficult night.
If poor sleep continues for weeks, is causing significant daytime problems or is worrying you, it's sensible to seek appropriate professional advice rather than simply searching for a longer playlist.
For evening listening, the recordings in our Long Nights collection are created with this kind of listening in mind - slow, spacious and deliberately undemanding.
And if you're choosing music for meditation rather than sleep, the requirements can be slightly different. Our guide to How to Choose Music for Meditation explores that in more detail.
The best music for sleep may ultimately be the music you stop noticing.
That's usually a rather good sign.
