Key Takeaways
- Partnerships for Mental Health: Universal Music Group is collaborating with Amber Health and Project Healthy Minds to enhance mental health services.
- 24/7 Access: UMG’s artists will have round-the-clock access to various mental health services through Amber Health.
- Research Initiative: UMG is a founding member of Project Healthy Minds’ workforce mental health research initiative.
- Industry Impact: The partnerships aim to reshape how the music industry addresses mental health and wellbeing.
Universal Music Group is expanding its work in the mental health and wellbeing spaces through new partnerships with Amber Health and Project Healthy Minds.
Through a combination of partnerships and programs, announced today (May 13), UMG intends to improve access to care within its creative community.
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By partnering with Amber Health, UMG’s artists and songwriters in North America will have 24/7 access to a range of mental health services, including clinical expertise, crisis response, care planning, and specialized referrals. Additionally, UMG will work with the organization to provide further behavioral health support to its employees in the United States and Canada, which will include access to expanded mental health support and resources.
Additionally, UMG has become a founding member of Project Healthy Minds’ workforce mental health research initiative, making it the first music company to do so. This alliance solidifies UMG’s commitment to developing a standardized framework for measuring workforce mental health and its correlation with organizational performance. Through collaboration with academic partners, including Harvard Business School, this project aims to establish data-driven benchmarks and inform best practices across industries.
“Through our strategic partnerships with organizations like Amber Health and Project Healthy Minds — and our continued investment in groundbreaking programs like Music Health Alliance’s Music Industry Mental Health Fund,” says Susan Mazo, UMG’s chief impact officer, “we are working to redesign how our industry supports wellbeing. Our focus is on expanding access to care, reducing stigma, and ensuring that our artists and songwriters, employees, and the broader music community have the resources they need to thrive.”
The partnership represents “a real shift in how labels support their artists,” say Dr. Chayim Newman and Zack Borer, co-founders at Amber Health. “Together with UMG’s corporate and label leadership, we’re embedding quick access to specialized mental health care directly into the labels’ infrastructure, making it proactive rather than an afterthought. We couldn’t be prouder of this work, or the message it sends to the rest of the music industry.”
Adds Phil Schermer, founder and CEO of Project Healthy Minds: “Music has always been a vehicle for mental health conversations and now Universal Music Group is bringing that same honesty inside its own walls. When a company of UMG’s reach commits to this, the whole industry pays attention.”
UMG turned talk into action in February 2025 by partnering with Nashville-based non-profit Music Health Alliance on the Music Industry Mental Health Fund, which provides comprehensive, high-quality outpatient mental health resources for music industry professionals across the United States. This alliance builds upon the healthcare access program launched by UMG and MHA in April 2021.
Last year, UMG and Apple Music globally launched Sound Therapy, a wellness collection designed to help listeners achieve clearer focus, deeper relaxation, and better sleep.
Creatives and industry professionals often face significant mental health challenges due to isolation, travel demands, late nights, and other factors. A study by Swedish digital distribution platform Record Union published in 2019 found that upwards of 73 percent of independent music makers reported symptoms of mental illness. Separately, the Mental Health and Wellbeing Survey 2024 released by Australia’s music industry charity Support Act found that 53.5% of Australian music and creative workers experience high or very high psychological distress, with over 68% citing high cost of living as a major issue.
UMG continues collaborating with longstanding partners like Mental Health Coalition (MHC) to highlight resources and research-backed methods that demonstrate how music can support mental health.
