Rethinking Harmony: Contemporary Conceptions of Music, Health, and Well-Being

Abstract

This chapter explores contemporary understandings of the interrelationships between music, health, and well-being, tracing how these concepts have evolved across interdisciplinary contexts. Moving beyond traditional therapeutic paradigms, it examines how music is increasingly recognized as a technology of health and a cultural immunogen, promoting individual and collective well-being in clinical settings, in everyday life, in education, and in community practice. Drawing on current research from music psychology, sociology, and arts-based practices, the chapter highlights the diverse ways music contributes to emotional regulation, social connection, identity formation, and resilience. It also considers how broader cultural, technological, and political forces shape access to and experiences of music as a health-promoting resource. Employing empirical evidence and evidence from lived experiences, the chapter challenges linear or prescriptive models of music and well-being, instead proposing a dynamic, relational framework. This framework emphasizes context, agency, and meaning making as central to understanding how music supports health in nuanced and often nonmedical ways. Ultimately, the chapter invites a reimagining of how we value and mobilize music in the pursuit of well-being in contemporary society.