The scientific community agrees that the fourth art is a powerful therapeutic ally, whether for people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or those suffering from anxiety. But can music also help man’s best friend? In any case, that’s what the Japanese start-up One By One Music thinks.
Music to de-stress Médor
This start-up relies on the thousand and one virtues of music to soothe stress in dogs. Because these adorable furballs can be stressed. Each dog has its own character and personality, the causes of this disorder can be numerous. But the most common include the sudden disruption of the animal’s daily routine, boredom and separation anxiety, when the owner has to be absent to go, for example, to work.
One By One Music teamed up with veterinarians and researchers, including some affiliated with Azabu University, to design music tracks that would help calm dogs. These would be generated by artificial intelligence, and would reduce the stress level of the doggie who listens to them by 84%. The Japanese company offers a monthly subscription of 980 yen (around six euros) to “dog parents” who would like to reduce their little companion’s feeling of stress through music.
“Relax My Cat” plus fort que “I wanna be your dog” ?
One By One Music is not the only one trying to capitalize on the attraction of beasts to the fourth art. The American firm Create Music Group acquired, last June, Music for Pet, a company specializing in the creation of songs and other entertainment content for pets. The latter is based around two brands – Relax My Dog and Relax My Cat – which reach more than 20 million dogs and cats around the world, according to the Music Ally website.
Furthermore, streaming platforms host numerous playlists aimed specifically at canines and felines prone to stress. On Spotify, Relaxmydog has 89,150 monthly listeners, and 111,284 for Relaxmycat. There are titles focused on relaxation and tranquility, like “Relax My Cat”, “Chill Dogs” and “Snoozing Cat”.
Effects that remain to be proven…
However, one question remains: do the therapeutic benefits of music work on pets? Nothing is less certain. Researchers from Queen’s University Belfast say in a study, published in 2022 in the journal Applied Animal Behavior Science, that the fourth art does not necessarily make dogs less anxious when they are separated from their master or people they are with. very attached. They have found that silence calms them more than Mozart’s “Sonata for Two Pianos”. Enough to relieve the guilt of “pet parents” who occasionally have to leave their animal alone.
