Music as a Behaviour Change Catalyst in Personal Health Management

Health systems across Europe face growing pressure from preventable and long-term conditions linked to lifestyle, mental health, and adherence to recommended behaviours. While digital tools are widely available, many struggle to sustain engagement or translate intention into action, particularly for people living with cognitive diversity, mental health challenges, or addiction.

Music is a uniquely powerful and universal stimulus. Songs heard during formative years become deeply embedded in memory and emotion, can rapidly cut through distraction, and can positively influence mood, motivation, and recall. The M-Tracks platform harnesses this capability by linking personally meaningful songs to specific health-related actions, creating strong cue–response associations that encourage follow-through without increasing cognitive load.

The M-Tracks platform as a behaviour change tool

The M-Tracks platform delivers song-based prompts rather than conventional alerts. Songs are automatically selected from a user’s most memorable years (typically ages 6–15), with the option for personal choice. This approach:

• captures attention in a crowded digital environment

• strengthens recall through emotional and autobiographical memory

• increases motivation and positive affect

• supports routine formation and habit maintenance

Crucially, the intervention is light-touch, non-clinical, and inclusive, making it suitable for prevention as well as ongoing condition management.

Proposed areas of application

Within a Horizon-funded collaborative project, the platform could be adapted and evaluated across multiple wellbeing and prevention domains, including:

• Healthy and active lives
  Prompting daily movement, exercise routines, physiotherapy, or sedentary breaks.

• Better nutrition
  Supporting regular meals, hydration, healthier food choices, or adherence to dietary plans.

• Addiction management and recovery
  Providing supportive cues during high-risk times, reinforcing routines, and supporting relapse prevention strategies.

• Living with depression and anxiety
  Encouraging daily structure, self-care activities, medication adherence, and mood-supportive routines.

• Other wellbeing and prevention goals
  Including sleep routines, stress management, social connection, and chronic condition self-management.

Research and evaluation opportunity

The project would enable multi-site, multi-population evaluation across European settings, assessing:

• engagement and sustained use

• behavioural adherence and routine formation

• wellbeing and self-reported outcomes

• acceptability across different cultures and health systems

This would generate robust evidence for music-based digital interventions as a cost-effective, scalable, and human-centred approach to prevention and long-term condition management.

Strategic relevance for European health systems

By focusing on prevention, self-management, and engagement rather than clinical treatment alone, this opportunity aligns strongly with European priorities around:

• reducing health inequalities

• supporting ageing populations

• addressing mental health at scale

• lowering long-term system costs

The M-Tracks platform offers a novel, culturally adaptable mechanism to support healthier behaviours and empower individuals across the life course.