Universal Music Group is partnering with the non-profit Music Health Alliance (MHA) to launch the Music Industry Mental Health Fund.
According to UMG, the fund will provide “comprehensive, high-quality outpatient mental health resources” for music industry professionals across the US.
The program, set to launch on Friday (February 14), will provide services such as personalized recommendations for mental health counselors and psychiatrists, as well as grants to help offset the cost of mental health treatment.
Music industry professionals who reach out to the program will receive a preliminary response within 24 hours, and will gain access to MHA’s team of health advocates.
The program builds on a four-year-old partnership between UMG and MHA, dubbed the Priority Healthcare Advocacy Program, that offers legacy UMG artists and Universal Music Publishing songwriters access to an MHA health advocate to help them access healthcare resources.
UMG says the program has served some 1,000 clients and saved them $12.5 million in healthcare costs so far.
“Growing and continuing our partnership with [MHA founder] Tatum [Allsep] and the Music Health Alliance was the most natural way to ensure continuous and effective mental health support for anyone working in our industry.”
Susan Mazo, Universal Music Group
The new program is available to all current and former music industry professionals, not only those employed at UMG companies.
“We have been working on ways to establish a streamlined pathway for mental health access, funding, and care planning,” UMG Chief Impact Officer Susan Mazo said.
“Growing and continuing our partnership with [MHA founder] Tatum [Allsep] and the Music Health Alliance was the most natural way to ensure continuous and effective mental health support for anyone working in our industry.”
“Music Health Alliance possesses the comprehensive resources necessary to address the full spectrum of mental health needs for music industry professionals,” added Allsep, who founded MHA in 2013 after years of documenting the need for improved healthcare access in the music industry.
“This includes financial assistance, a continuum of care for both mental and physical health, and wraparound services such as psychiatric support, facilitation of intensive outpatient and inpatient programs, and data collection. MHA’s holistic approach ensures a long-term commitment to the health, well-being, and sustainability of the music industry workforce.”
The new initiative comes amid a growing conversation about health care and compensation for artists in the music industry in the wake of comments made by rising artist Chappell Roan during her Grammy Award acceptance speech.
“Record labels need to treat their artists as valuable employees with a livable wage and health insurance and protection. Labels, we got you, but do you got us?” Roan said at the Grammys.
Earlier this week, Roan partnered with the non-profit Backline to launch the We Got You initiative, a fundraising campaign to improve healthcare accessibility for artists. Roan gave $25,000 to the cause, a donation that has since been matched by Live Nation, AEG, and fellow artists Charli XCX and Noah Kahan, according to a report at Billboard.
Universal Music Group’s expanded partnership with MHA is just one of many avenues the company has explored in pursuit of improved mental health and wellness.
In 2023, the company teamed up with generative AI company Endel to develop wellness music. That year, it also partnered with Ariana Huffington of Thrive Global to launch a music-focused wellness app.
In 2024, UMG joined with Rescape Innovation to create a virtual reality treatment for anxiety that incorporates personalized music. UMG also teamed up with Warner Music Group and Realize Music, Inc. to bring some 1 million tracks to the Realize Music: Sing app, meant to harness the therapeutic benefits of singing.
Also last year, UMG India launched Vedam Records, a label devoted to wellness music. The company has also filed a patent application for a new technology that adds neural beats to music “to produce or encourage a desired mental state.” The patent application says the tech could be used to induce “neural entrainment, improved focus, a calmer mood, relaxation, or any other desired mental state.”Music Business Worldwide
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