Tag: health

Spotify’s Heart & Soul Initiative Brings Mental Health Support to Artists and Creators Worldwide

In 2018, Spotify launched Heart & Soul, a mental health initiative developed to provide support and promote deep knowledge about emotional well-being.

As conversations around mental health take center stage in the music industry, Spotify is deepening its commitment to artist well-being through our Heart & Soul, Mental Health for Creators initiative. In partnership with leading nonprofits, this global effort aims to provide meaningful support, challenge cultural norms, and ensure that artists, songwriters, and their teams can access the help they need—when they need it.

“Heart & Soul is our commitment to the creators behind the music. Artists and songwriters face immense pressure, and their mental health can’t be an afterthought,” said Lauren Siegal Wurgaft, Head of Social Impact, Spotify. “Supporting creators’ well-being is essential to sustaining a vibrant music ecosystem. By working closely with trusted partners like Backline, we’re not just offering resources, we’re helping drive lasting change in how the industry approaches mental health.”

Here’s how we’re putting that promise into action:

Financial Support

Spotify is providing direct financial support to help expand the impact of the following organizations: Backline (including Chappell Roan’s WE GOT YOU! fund), MusiCares, Music Health Alliance, Music Minds Matter, and Noah Kahan’s The Busyhead Project.

Expanding Access to Care

Together with Backline and Music Minds Matter, Spotify is funding grants to enable one-to-one therapy for current and upcoming EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR ambassadors in the U.S. and U.K. Artist ambassadors from these programs will be given grants through partners that directly cover the cost of therapy that they can use themselves or gift to other artists in their bands or members of their teams.

Backline x Spotify: Supporting Artists Worldwide

We’re making mental health care easier to find and faster to access for creators. Spotify is proud to partner with Backline on the launch of their new global resource hub, an international, multilingual database featuring trusted music industry and mental health support resources and crisis lines from around the world. 

“Backline is honored to serve as a steward of Spotify’s investment into the creative community,” said Hilary Gleason, Cofounder and Executive Director, Backline. “Bringing our work to scale is a meaningful way to uplift the well-being of artists all around the world. This collaboration is taking these invaluable mental health and wellness resources beyond borders. Music knows no bounds, and now people who make music happen have access to care and a compassionate community. Our work together will help ensure that artists have the resources, support, and stability they need to thrive both personally and professionally.” 

To provide more personalized pathways to care, Backline has also launched global@backline.care, a dedicated concierge email service that provides one-on-one support to help individuals navigate local care options and mental health systems in their countries.

Bringing Wellness on the Road

We’re partnering with Backline and The Busyhead Project to meet artists where they are—in studios and backstage at major festivals like All Things Go NYC—through on-site wellness activations, self-care kits, and guided workshops designed to bring calm to the chaos.

Delivering Everyday Tools for Mental Health 

Through our new Heart & Soul, Mental Health for Creators hub on Spotify, creators can access curated playlists, podcasts, and audiobooks specifically designed to support their well-being.

Spotlighting Stories That Support Creators

Across Spotify for Artists and Spotify Songwriting, we’ll spotlight real mental health stories from the creative community and offer resources, reflections, and tools that resonate.

Holding Space for Songwriters

We’re creating spaces for connection and conversation around mental health in songwriting—through intimate dinners and studio residencies that bring songwriters together around mental health themes.

“The mental health challenges artists face are real and the current support systems often fall short,” said Monica Herrera Damashek, Head of Artist and Label Partnerships, Spotify. “It’s on all of us in the industry to respond with action. Spotify is expanding its Heart & Soul for Creators initiative by helping Backline scale its Mental Health & Wellness Global Resource hub internationally for the first time and by offering one-to-one therapy access to EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR ambassadors in the U.S. and U.K. This is only one step, and we’ll continue to build a more supported environment for the artists who shape culture every day.”

Spotify’s Heart & Soul initiative represents a significant step forward in our enduring commitment to artists and creators. By providing direct financial support, expanding access to vital care, and integrating wellness into the everyday lives of musicians, we aim to foster an industry where mental health is prioritized, understood, and supported. This is an ongoing journey, and we are committed to working collaboratively to create a more sustainable and compassionate ecosystem for the individuals who bring the world’s music to life.

Tune In, Tune Up: Five Creators Share Tips To Guide Your 2025 Wellness Goals

The new year is a time for fresh starts and a renewed focus on our well-being, and there is a wealth of podcasts you can stream on Spotify to find inspiration and motivation. To help you kick off 2025 feeling your best, we’ve consulted five luminaries in the wellness space to share their insights.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck Podcast

Building on Mark Manson’s bestselling self-help book of the same name, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck Podcast tackles relationships, careers, health, wealth, and happiness with refreshing honesty. Featuring a mix of guest appearances, burning reader questions, and solo shows with Mark, the show explores all the uncomfortable questions that might just change your life.

Mark Manson

How it started: “It happened by accident. I started blogging my own personal growth journey, had a distinct style and some unique takes, and developed an audience relatively early on. They started asking me for advice, so I went and researched the answers. From there, it just kind of snowballed.”

How it’s going: “Spotify has been the primary home for my podcast audience almost since we launched. It seems like we grow the most organically there, and our listeners are more engaged.”

Mark’s wellness tip: “I know big, ambitious goals are sexy, but you’re far more likely to succeed if you break them down into a series of small, relatively attainable goals and take them down one after the other. It’s not as sexy or exciting but it’s what actually works. If you’re relying on willpower, you’re doing it wrong.”

Stream the latest episode of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck Podcast on Spotify.

The Liz Moody Podcast

Hosted by bestselling author and longtime journalist Liz Moody, The Liz Moody Podcast offers research-backed wellness advice. Liz sits down with some of the world’s leading experts to answer some of the biggest health and wellness questions, from what to eat to fight disease to how to take control of your finances.

Liz Moody

How it started: “After experiencing a mental health crisis, I turned to the skill set I’d honed over the years: researching and asking questions. I reached out to people I had absolutely no business talking to (neuroscientists at Stanford, nutrition researchers at Harvard) to try to uncover what was happening in my brain, and how I could potentially feel better. Many of them didn’t write back, but a few did, and with that information I began to cobble together a plan for myself. Slowly—very slowly!—I started to feel better, and I became passionate about helping others feel better, too.”

How it’s going: “People are already listening to their favorite music on Spotify, so it’s easy for them to integrate podcasts—I love making any wellness habits as simple as possible, so meeting people where they already are is huge for that. It’s also so fun to have comments on episodes, and be able to continue the discussions raised and get feedback on what people are loving.”

Liz’s wellness tip: “The world’s largest study on gut health found that the single most important thing to feed our microbes was how much diversity was in our diet. Specifically, the study found that 30 plants per week was the ideal number for optimal microbiome benefits. So start counting your plants—and anything that grows in the ground counts as a plant—and try to add more plants to every meal. Can you hit that 30 a week number? It becomes a fun game, but it also has huge health benefits.”

Stream the latest episode of The Liz Moody Podcast on Spotify.

GrownKid

Following the success of Teenager Therapy, Gael Aitor and Kayla Suarez returned last summer with a brand-new podcast, GrownKid, focused on young adulthood. Bringing diverse perspectives from experts and leading voices across generations, GrownKid offers meaningful conversations around critical topics for Gen Z, like building a career without a college degree or overcoming rejection.

Kayla Suarez and Gael Aitor

How it started: “We started a podcast documenting our coming-of-age when we were 15 years old, and so began our journey into advocating for the importance of vulnerability, mental health, and wellness.”

How it’s going: “Not only has Spotify given us the ability to talk with our audience directly, but it’s also allowed us to get a sense of what’s important to our listeners by helping us track the better-performing episodes and topics we do.”

Gael’s wellness tip: “When you feel yourself getting brain fog, go outside and walk in nature. If that’s not possible, walk inside your house!”

Kayla’s wellness tip: “Dance, dance, dance! I feel like dancing as an act of wellness is underrated. Even just setting aside 10 minutes to play your favorite songs and dance has made such a difference for me.”

Stream the latest episode of GrownKid on Spotify.

Self Obsessed

A renowned self-love and development expert, Tam Kaur is dedicated to helping women become the best versions of themselves. On Self Obsessed, she provides advice on topics like building confidence, embracing authenticity, setting boundaries, cultivating healthy relationships, and pursuing your passions.

How it started: “I’ve always been obsessed with self-development. Along the way, I definitely made mistakes, but the lessons I learned inspired me to share them so that other women could progress on their journeys faster.”

Tam Kaur

How it’s going: “Spotify has allowed me another avenue to provide value to my audience, from my curated wellness playlists filled with uplifting songs to my audiobook, Buy Yourself the Damn Flowers. With my podcast, it’s allowed me to share my story more in depth, connect with my listeners, and create even more content for my audience members who are always on the go!”

Tam’s wellness tip: “Meditate. It’s something I value more strongly now than ever. It’s easy to do and doesn’t have to take more than two minutes, and yet the benefits are endless. You gain peace, clarity, and presence. Not to mention it’s a powerful manifestation tool when you visualize your dream reality at the same time. It has the power to rewire your subconscious so that you can develop a more positive self-concept.”

Stream the latest episode of Self Obsessed on Spotify.

Let’s Talk About Mental Health with Jeremy Godwin

On Let’s Talk About Mental Health, writer, counselor, and mental health advocate Jeremy Godwin breaks down complex mental health topics into simple, actionable steps. With practical, research-backed advice and insights from his expertise and personal experience, he seeks to help you build healthier habits, foster resilience, and create lasting positive change.

Jeremy Godwin

How it started: “After going through a breakdown in late 2011, followed by several years of severe depression and anxiety, I wanted to find a way to help others who were dealing with what I went through. Over a decade later, I’ve found a space to help people that also makes me feel incredibly fulfilled!”

How it’s going: “Being able to engage directly with my listeners through comments and polls on Spotify helps me understand what resonates with them, and have real conversations (instead of just talking at them each week in my show!).”

Jeremy’s wellness tip: “Focus on what you can directly control. It’s so easy to become overwhelmed by the weight of the world and all the stuff we need to deal with in our lives…but when you remember that you can only ever control your own words and actions, it frees you from a lot of stress.”

Stream the latest episode of Let’s Talk About Mental Health with Jeremy Godwin on Spotify.

New Year, New You: Audiobook Picks To Help You Start 2024 on the Right Foot

Whether it’s New Year’s resolutions or a post-holiday reset, there’s always extra motivation to adopt a few healthy habits each January. But sometimes deciding which ones to embrace can be the biggest challenge. 

Lucky for you, our audiobooks editorial team has created a series of themed playlists that speak to different areas of self-improvement. So if you’re looking to give your brain more of a workout, wrangle your finances, or strengthen the bond with those closest to you, we have a treasure trove of standout audiobooks on Spotify to get you started.

These are Spotify’s Top Workout & Wellness Trends – Plus 2020 Predictions to Help Kick-Start Your Resolutions

As we enter the New Year—or better yet, new decade—there are endless ways to get on that fitness, wellness, or self-care resolution. Since there are plenty of songs, podcasts, and playlists dedicated to helping people achieve their wellness goals on Spotify, we took a look at how listeners have been using music and podcasts to stay on track. Plus, we made some predictions for what trends the new year will bring.

So, with more than 54 million workout-themed playlists on Spotify, what songs do listeners sweat to the most? Eminem’s ‘Till I Collapseis the most-streamed track on workout lists at the moment. Ed Sheeran’s I Don’t Carewith Justin Bieber is second highest, followed by Tones and I’s Dance Monkey,”If I Can’t Have You” by Shawn Mendes, and Beautiful Peopleby Ed Sheeran and Khalid.

It turns out that our listeners have a particular workout preference—running. Spotify listeners around the world have created more running playlists than any other workout type. Yoga follows in popularity, so you can be sure listeners are staying flexible as well.

We found that people want to learn about wellness from podcasts, too. Listening in the fitness and wellness podcast genre increased 145% in the past year. Plus, listeners are falling asleep—and in love—with sleep podcasts. The most popular podcast in the health and fitness category is Sleepy, where host Otis Gray reads classic stories to help listeners doze off. Is this what sweet dreams are made of?

As for 2020 predictions, we have reason to believe there’s going to be more meditating than ever before. We saw a 113% increase in streams of meditation playlists in the past year, higher than any other workout or wellness type.

Plus, we feel self-love will continue to reign supreme, with pump-up empowerment anthems like Ariana Grande’sthank u, next,” Lizzo’sGood as Hell,” and Hailee Steinfeld’sLove Myself,” popular on self-care playlists. These powerful women are here to say You’ve got this.

Keep up the motivation with even more workout and wellness trends:


Download the infographic here.

Get inspired by our Wellness hub or get your heart racing with Spotify’s most-followed workout playlist, Beast Mode.

11 Podcasts Sobre Bienestar para Inspirar la Mejor Versión de Tí Mismo

Sentirte bien no siempre es fácil. El estrés puede golpearte desde cualquier ángulo: el trabajo, una relación, o simple ansiedad existencial. Pero un amable recordatorio o recomendación de uno o más podcasts de bienestar puede ayudarte a mantener una perspectiva optimista. Ya sea que busques consejos de psicólogos, coaches de vida o yoguis, conoce cinco recomendaciones de podcasts en español que inspiran el amor propio.

Se Regalan Dudas

Este podcast conducido por Lety Sahagún y Ashley Frangie, con sede en México, se plantea el objetivo de cuestionarlo todo: ¿Por qué creemos lo que creemos? ¿Qué alternativas hay? ¿De dónde venimos y hacia dónde vamos? A través de una serie de discusiones, examinan las dudas que todos tenemos y discuten cómo abordarlas de una manera que nos permita mejorar.

¡Con amor, carajo!

En su podcast, la neuropsicóloga mexicana y coach de vida Lorena Aguirre trata de manera genuina e intrigante temas serios y trascendentales que van desde la educación emocional hasta las relaciones interpersonales saludables y positivas. Piensa en este podcast como “autoayuda para aquellos que odian la autoayuda”.

Entiende tu Mente

Entiende tu mente en 20 minutos, gracias a los creadores españoles Molo Cebrián, Luis Muino y Mónica González. A través de cada episodio, poco a poco, puedes comenzar a reconstruir la psicología oculta detrás de por qué haces lo que haces. Únete a su club para obtener acceso a más de sus recomendaciones y enseñanzas.

Entrenamiento para la mente

¿Quieres meditar, relajarte y encontrar un momento de calma en medio del caos? Esta serie del coach de vida argentino Nico Iglesias tiene audios de meditación para ayudarte a entrenar tu mente. Transforma tu experiencia del mundo de “hacer” al plano de “ser”.

Medita Podcast

La guía de meditación y coach de bienestar colombiana Mar utiliza la meditación como una herramienta para liberar el estrés y alcanzar la mejor versión de sí misma. A través de su podcast, entrena a otros a hacer lo mismo todos los días. Aprende meditaciones para ayudarte a vivir más en el presente, sentirte más relajado y experimentar la felicidad.

Poder Emprendedora 

Un podcast de entrevistas con expertos de emprendimiento en bienestar para inspirar a la audiencia tener un mejor balance entre vida personal y trabajo.

Pensar de Nuevo

¿Qué es lo que nos hace humanos? El neurocientífico Facundo Manes nos invita a pensar sobre nosotros mismos y entender cómo somos; a potenciar las posibilidades de planificar nuestro futuro y encontrar las claves que nos permitan vivir mejor.

99% con Mia Astral

99% es un podcast en el que hablaremos de la realidad de una manera diferente. Día a día te compartiré mis reflexiones más personales para que demos un salto de consciencia, dejemos atrás los viejos condicionamientos, conectemos con nuestro gran poder personal y miremos de cerca el origen de lo que vemos manifestado. Soy María Pineda, astróloga, life coach y escritora, y aunque probablemente me conozcas de las redes sociales como Mia Astral, te invito a que me acompañes en este espacio un poco más íntimo para analizar el otro lado de lo que experimentamos en el 1% de nuestra existencia.

El Podcast de Marian Rojas Estapé

Marian Rojas Estapé, médico y psiquiatra, nos trae unos episodios de podcast donde comprendernos mejor a nosotros mismos. Te cuenta y explica temas concretos de la mente, del comportamiento o del mundo emocional. Conoceremos la oxitocina y el cortisol. Tendremos claves para identificar a las personas vitaminas que nos rodean, Marian nos hablará de muchos temas sobre nuestra salud mental y nos enseñará a vivir con más armonía a través del conocimiento de nuestro Cuerpo.

Aprende a meditar

Aprende a Meditar es un podcast que te ayuda a acelerar tu despertar espiritual integrando el hábito de meditación a tu vida. Utilizamos la tecnología de Meditación Kundalini para alinearnos a nuestro más alto destino. La intención principal de este podcast es enseñarte a meditar y ayudarte a que el camino hacia la evolución de tu alma sea mucho más ligero.

Dormicast/Despercast

En este podcast que sale dos veces por día tendremos una meditación diaria para despertar y una meditación para irte a dormir. Conducido por Rosario Vicencio, creadora del podcast: “Sí Medito”.