Spotify's World Mental Health Day campaign: tune into nature for mental wellness

Spotify has relaunched its "Take a Beat" campaign in conjunction with World Mental Health Day, October 10, promoting the use of nature sounds to help improve mental health and well-being.

Even if you're not into the whole World Mental Health Day thing, I'm sure you'll get a kick out of Spotify's compilation of nature sounds. Who doesn't like those?

Research has shown that nature sounds, such as the calming rhythm of ocean waves or the soothing chirps of birds, can positively affect mental health by reducing stress and fostering a sense of calm. Spotify's campaign encourages listeners to take intentional breaks, tune out the hustle of everyday life, and immerse themselves in the tranquility of nature.

The Take a Beat initiative is designed to make nature sounds a regular part of people’s daily routines. To facilitate this, Spotify has created a dedicated Take a Beat hub, featuring an array of audio content. The hub includes nature-themed albums, field recordings, guided meditations, and podcasts, all curated to provide listeners with moments of calm. Some highlights in the hub include content from Spotify's partner projects like Sounds Right and Calm.

Sounds Right, launched earlier in 2024, celebrates nature as an artist, with royalties from streams going toward high-impact conservation initiatives. Listeners can explore tracks like "Orange Skies" by Louis VI and NATURE, or collaborations like "wherever u r" by UMI, NATURE, and V from BTS.

This partnership blends music and environmental conservation, offering a unique way for users to engage with and support the natural world through streaming.

Spotify has also teamed up with Calm, a popular meditation app, to provide nature-focused meditations. These include titles such as "We Are Nature", "Mindful Walking Meditation", and "Nature All Around", narrated by Jay Shetty, designed to help users ground themselves through the sounds of nature.

To further emphasize the connection between nature and mental health, Spotify has partnered with Louis VI, a zoologist, BBC Creator in Residence, and rapper. Louis VI draws creative inspiration from the natural world, and his collaboration with Spotify showcases how deeply intertwined nature and music can be.

The campaign doesn’t just focus on listening experiences. Spotify is also making financial contributions to several organizations that promote mental health through nature, including "Dose of Nature" in the UK, the "Climate Mental Health Network" in the US, and "The Global Fund for Mental Health". These organizations work to provide people with ways to reconnect with the natural world for their mental well-being.

Additionally, Spotify collaborated with "Good Energy" to create a resource page where users can learn about the intersection of mental health and climate change. This page offers practical tips on improving mental health through nature and provides information on the organizations Spotify is supporting through donations.

With the "Take a Beat" campaign, Spotify invites users to make nature sounds a part of their mental wellness routines, not just on World Mental Health Day, but every day, underscoring the benefits of taking time to reconnect with nature through sound.

By offering accessible nature-based content, the campaign provides a pathway for users to pause, reflect, and improve their mental well-being in a fast-paced world where such moments of calm are becoming increasingly hard to find.