GradedHealth

Does music help you sleep? What the trials found

A Cochrane review of 13 trials found bedtime music improved how well people with sleep problems rated their sleep. Sleep-lab measures changed little.

Published October 2026

Short answer

If you struggle to sleep, quiet music at bedtime can make sleep feel better, though the improvement is modest. Sleep-lab recordings often barely change, so treat it as one low-risk habit. Evidence grade B (Moderate). Cochrane review of 13 randomised trials (1,007 adults) plus consistent meta-analyses in older adults, hospital patients and pregnant women; downgraded for high risk of bias (unblinded trials) and mainly self-reported outcomes.

Key takeaways

  • In a 2022 Cochrane review of 13 trials with 1,007 adults, listening to music at bedtime improved sleep-quality scores compared with no treatment or usual care [1].
  • Meta-analyses in older adults, hospital patients and pregnant women found similar improvements in how people rated their sleep [2][3][4].
  • A four-week trial in 112 adults with depression-related insomnia improved sleep-problem scores by about 2 points while they listened, with the benefit fading after the music stopped [5].
  • Sleep-lab studies found little change in how long or how deeply people actually slept [1][6].
  • One lab study found instrumental music triggered earworms and made some people's sleep worse, so the type of music matters [7].

The short version

If you have trouble sleeping, listening to quiet music at bedtime can help you sleep better — the improvement is modest [1]. The best evidence is in people with insomnia symptoms, and it is mostly about how good sleep feels rather than what sleep monitors record [1][6]. In the trials, nobody reported side effects [1].

What the studies show

The strongest evidence comes from a 2022 Cochrane review that pooled 13 randomised trials with 1,007 adults who complained of sleep problems [1]. People listened to prerecorded music for 25 to 60 minutes a day, for three days to three months. On the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index — a 21-point questionnaire where lower scores mean better sleep — music listeners scored 2.79 points better than people who had no treatment or usual care (10 trials, 708 people) [1]. The reviewers rated this moderate-certainty evidence. Time to fall asleep, total sleep time and sleep efficiency improved a little too and were rated low certainty, while how often people woke up did not clearly change [1].

Similar results show up in other groups. A meta-analysis of five trials in older adults found sleep-quality scores about 2 points better with music, with the best results from slow, sedative music and at least four weeks of listening [2]. A review of 10 trials in hospital patients (726 people) found better sleep quality when patients listened to soft music, usually for 30 minutes in the evening, with no adverse events [3]. A meta-analysis of four trials in 348 pregnant women with insomnia found better sleep with bedtime music [4].

Some trials focus on harder cases. In a four-week trial of 112 adults with depression-related insomnia, sleep-problem scores improved by about 2 points while people listened, then slipped back after the music stopped; wrist activity monitors showed no change, and depression symptoms did not improve [5]. In a five-week trial of 75 college students, bedtime classical or jazz music plus breathing exercises improved sleep quality and insomnia severity compared with breathing exercises alone [8].

Music may help because it turns down stress. A meta-analysis of 47 studies (2,747 people) found a medium-to-large effect on stress-related outcomes [9], and a review of 32 trials (1,924 people) found anxiety eased during music treatment, though the effect was no longer clear at follow-up [10].

The nuances

The benefit is clearest for people who already have sleep problems. In adults without a sleep disorder, a review of pooled results (6 studies, 424 people) found no clear improvement in sleep quality overall; programmes lasting at least three weeks did help [11].

Sleep-lab measures often show little change even when people feel better [1]. One small sleep-lab trial of 20 adults found a 30-minute music session did not robustly change sleep, and a pilot trial in 71 adults found no effect on any recorded sleep measure [12][13]. In an online trial of 98 pregnant women, both music plus sleep-hygiene advice and sleep-hygiene advice alone improved sleep, with no difference between the groups [14].

Music can also backfire. One lab study found that instrumental versions of familiar songs got stuck in people's heads at night and worsened recorded sleep quality — an earworm effect [7]. So the kind of music matters, not just whether you listen [7].

What this means for you

The trials used 25 to 60 minutes of quiet, slow music in the evening, often as part of a wind-down routine with relaxed breathing [1][8]. In older adults, listening for at least four weeks worked better than shorter stretches [2]. Keep the volume low: unsafe headphone listening is common in young people, and heavy headphone use is linked to hearing changes at high frequencies [15][16]. Ongoing sleep problems, or sleepiness during the day, are worth raising with a doctor. For more, see Sleep and Music.

Go deeper

  • Music — Listening to music at bedtime improves how well people with sleep problems rate their sleep, and music also eases stress and anxiety in many trials.
  • Sleep — Expert panels advise 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night for adults.

References

  1. Listening to music for insomnia in adults.. Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2022.
  2. Effect of music therapy on improving sleep quality in older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis.. J Am Geriatr Soc, 2021.
  3. The effect of music on sleep in hospitalized patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis.. Sleep Health, 2023.
  4. The effect of music on pregnancy-related insomnia: A systematic review and meta-analysis.. Midwifery, 2025.
  5. Music to improve sleep quality in adults with depression-related insomnia (MUSTAFI): randomized controlled trial.. Nord J Psychiatry, 2023.
  6. A randomized controlled trial of bedtime music for insomnia disorder.. J Sleep Res, 2019.
  7. Bedtime Music, Involuntary Musical Imagery, and Sleep.. Psychol Sci, 2021.
  8. Bedtime music therapy for college students with insomnia: A randomized assessor-blinded controlled trial.. Sleep Med, 2024.
  9. Music therapy for stress reduction: a systematic review and meta-analysis.. Health Psychol Rev, 2022.
  10. Effects of music therapy on anxiety: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.. Psychiatry Res, 2021.
  11. Music-based Intervention for Improving Sleep Quality of Adults without Sleep Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.. Behav Sleep Med, 2022.
  12. The Effects of Presleep Slow Breathing and Music Listening on Polysomnographic Sleep Measures - a pilot trial.. Sci Rep, 2020.
  13. Effects of music and music video interventions on sleep quality: A randomized controlled trial in adults with sleep disturbances.. Complement Ther Med, 2017.
  14. Music and Sleep Hygiene Interventions for Pregnancy-Related Insomnia: An Online Randomized Controlled Trial.. J Midwifery Womens Health, 2025.
  15. Prevalence and global estimates of unsafe listening practices in adolescents and young adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.. BMJ Glob Health, 2022.
  16. The Effects of Short-Term and Long-term Hearing Changes on Music Exposure: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.. Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2020.