Stress has become a near-constant backdrop of modern life, and many Americans are turning to music to help manage it. From late-night listening sessions to carefully curated playlists, music often acts as an emotional outlet during overwhelming moments.

To understand how people use music to cope, Tebra surveyed 1,000 adults across the United States and analyzed thousands of tracks across hundreds of public Spotify playlists associated with stress and emotional regulation. The findings reveal the artists, genres, and listening habits Americans rely on most when they need to decompress.

Certain songs and musical styles consistently appear when listeners seek emotional relief. The patterns show that Americans gravitate toward familiar sounds and reflective lyrics when navigating stressful moments.

"Sparks" by Coldplay, "Apocalypse" by Cigarettes After Sex, and "The Night We Met" by Lord Huron ranked as the most frequently appearing songs across mental health-related Spotify playlists. These tracks often feature slower tempos and emotionally resonant lyrics, suggesting that listeners seek music that mirrors their feelings during stressful periods.

Hip-hop/rap, pop, and rock were the top 3 genres on mental health-themed playlists. Each genre offers different emotional outlets, from reflective storytelling in hip-hop to cathartic rock anthems and familiar pop melodies.

Behind every playlist are artists whose music resonates during emotionally intense moments. Across genres, several names consistently appeared in stress-related listening patterns.

The most popular artists featured on stress relief playlists on Spotify were:

Pop listeners gravitated most toward Taylor Swift, who led the genre on stress-related playlists. Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo followed, reflecting a strong presence of emotionally expressive pop music.

Drake ranked first in hip-hop/rap, followed by Tyler, the Creator and Kendrick Lamar. Electronic music also appeared frequently, with Subtronics, Illenium, and David Guetta topping EDM playlists. Metal remained a strong presence as well, led by Alice in Chains, Slipknot, and Metallica.

Other genres also showed clear favorites:

For many Americans, music is more than background entertainment. It often becomes a regular emotional outlet during stressful periods.

More than 1 in 3 Americans (35%) said music was their number one stress-relief tool, ranking it above exercise (27%) and talking to a friend or family member (9%). Daily listening habits also reflect this reliance, with 29% reporting they use music each day specifically to manage stress or improve their mood.

Music sometimes fills a larger emotional support role. More than 2 in 5 Americans (42%) said they use music as a substitute for professional mental health support, highlighting a potential gap in care accessibility that flexible options like telehealth and online scheduling are working to close

When stress strikes, Americans use different approaches to find the right soundtrack:

Americans ranked Linkin Park, Adele, and Taylor Swift as the top artists they turn to for stress relief.

Music has become an everyday form of emotional self-regulation. For many, pressing play offers a moment of relief during demanding workdays, anxious evenings, or overwhelming life events. Overall, 72% of Americans agreed that listening to music has meaningfully improved their mental health.

Music continues to play a role in how Americans navigate everyday stress before it escalates into clinical conditions like chronic anxiety or severe burnout. Across genres and listening habits, people consistently turn to songs and artists that help them process complex feelings and regain a sense of calm.

For behavioral health specialists and private providers, acknowledging everyday coping tools like music can help foster more relatable, patient-centered conversations around stress. These insights can help practices better understand how patients approach mental well-being in their daily lives, ultimately contributing to a more supportive overall patient experience

Tebra conducted an online survey of 1,000 US adults to explore the relationship between music and mental health. The survey was conducted in 2026. Respondents ranged across generations, including Gen Z (17%), Millennials (51%), Gen X (25%), and Baby Boomers (8%), and genders, including women (54%), men (45%), and non-binary or other (2%).

Genre-level well-being comparisons were limited to groups with at least 50 respondents. Percentages may not sum to 100 due to rounding or because respondents were permitted to select multiple answers.

​​To identify the songs and artists Americans turn to most for stress relief, Tebra analyzed publicly available Spotify playlist data compiled via search scrape in early 2026. Seven stress- and mental health-related search terms were used to surface relevant playlists, including "anxiety," "burnout," "calm down," "decompress," "destress," "overthinking," and "stress relief."

The resulting dataset comprised 155,626 track entries across 560 unique playlists, representing 89,595 unique tracks and 32,563 unique artists. Rankings were determined by the number of playlist appearances for each track or artist across the full dataset.

To ensure results reflected mainstream listening habits, tracks and artists associated with meditation, sleep, binaural beats, ambient noise, and similar therapeutic or non-musical audio content were filtered out prior to analysis. Genre classifications were assigned based on artist-level genre tags present in the dataset and supplemented with manual mapping for broader genre groupings.

Tebra, headquartered in Southern California, empowers independent healthcare practices with cutting-edge AI and automation to drive growth, streamline care, and boost efficiency. Our all-in-one EHR and billing platform delivers everything you need to attract and engage your patients, including online scheduling, reputation management, and digital communications.

Inspired by "vertebrae," our name embodies our mission to be the backbone of healthcare success. With over 165,000 providers and 190 million patient records, Tebra is redefining healthcare through innovation and a commitment to customer success. We're not just optimizing operations — we're ensuring private practices thrive.

The insights and data presented in this article may be shared for noncommercial purposes only. If referenced or republished, please include proper attribution and a link back to Tebra.