Our editorial team has analysed Spotify playlists made by the public with terms such as ‘de-stress’ and ‘comfort’ in their titles. The songs that appeared most frequently in playlists determined our ranking of the best songs to help listeners unwind.
Read on to find out which jams are considered to be the ultimate calming experience for Spotify listeners!
- Top 10 Songs to Reduce Stress and Anxiety According to Spotify Listeners
- How We Carried the Study to Create the Ranking
- Study Findings: Top Songs Aimed to Reduce Anxiety and Stress
- Other Songs Topping Anxiety and Stress Reducing Spotify Lists
- CasinoAlpha’s Key Takeaways on Study Results
Top 10 Songs to Reduce Stress and Anxiety According to Spotify Listeners
| Rank | Song | Artist | Number of Playlist Appearances |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | The Night We Met | Lord Huron | 264 |
| #2 | Apocalypse | Cigarettes After Sex | 225 |
| #3 | Space Song | Beach House | 208 |
| #4 | My Love Mine All Mine | Mitski | 197 |
| #5 | Heart to Heart | Mac Demarco | 180 |
| #6 | Romantic Homicide | d4vd | 167 |
| #7 | Sparks | Coldplay | 164 |
| #8 | K. | Cigarettes After Sex | 163 |
| #9 | Sunsetz | Cigarettes After Sex | 159 |
| #10 | Je te laisserai des mots | Patrick Watson | 147 |
How We Carried the Study to Create the Ranking
- We used the Playlist Miner to gather playlists featuring terms such as ‘de-stress’ and ‘calm’ in their titles. We gathered one hundred playlists for each of these terms, amounting to 3,300 playlists with 282,477 songs in total.
- We filtered out the songs and tones created by ‘various artists’, which left our study with 273,724 songs.
- We then calculated the number of times each song appeared on a playlist featuring the terms we were considering for our study. We then created a ranking based on which songs appeared in the most playlists.
- ‘Stressed Out’ by Twenty-One Pilots has been excluded from our list as it is included in stress-related playlists much more often than playlists with other terms, e.g. ‘calmness’.
Study Findings: Top Songs Aimed to Reduce Anxiety and Stress
We’ve completed a deep-dive into each song from the top 10 most popular anti-stress songs.
The number one song used to reduce stress is ‘The Night We Met’ by Lord Huron.
It was recorded with 264 playlist appearances.
We have found in the study that the ballad was most often found in playlists with ‘comfort’ in the title, with 19 features under the term.
In second place is ‘Apocalypse’ by Cigarettes After Sex.
The song appeared in 225 playlists. The song featured in playlists with ‘calmness’ in the title 22 times.
Coming in third in our ranking is ‘Space Song’ by Beach House.
It registered 208 playlist appearances. The track occurred in playlists with ‘comforting’ in the title 22 times.
Fourth is ‘My Love Mine All Mine’ by Mitski.
We have found this song in 197 playlists. ‘Comfort’ is most often associated with the song, as it features 19 playlists with the term in the title.
At number five in our ranking is ‘Heart To Heart’ by Mac Demarco.
The song has been featured in 180 playlists, with 18 of those containing ‘comfort’ in their title.
Sixth in our ranking is ‘Romantic Homicide’ by d4vd.
The song is also associated with ‘comfort’ as 18 of its 167 playlists feature the term in the title.
‘Sparks’ by Coldplay is seventh.
We have found the song to have 164 playlist features.
The song is most often depicted as ‘comforting,’ with 17 playlists featuring Coldplay’s 24-year-old track.
In eighth place is ‘K.’ by Cigarettes After Sex.
The song features in 163 playlists. The song features in playlists with ‘serenity’ in the title 17 times.
At number nine is another Cigarettes After Sex track – ‘Sunsetz’.
This jam features in 159 playlists, with 19 of those including calmness in their title.
Tenth in our ranking is ‘Je te laisserai des mots’ by Patrick Watson.
The title of the song translates in English to ‘I will leave you words.’
The ballad appears in 147 playlists, being equally associated with ‘peacefulness’ and ‘comfort,’ as the song appears with the terms 15 times each.
Other Songs Topping Anxiety and Stress Reducing Spotify Lists
| Ranking | Songs | Artists | Number of Playlist Appearances |
|---|---|---|---|
| #11 | Sweater Weather | The Neighbourhood | 143 |
| #12 | Lovers Rock | TV Girl | 142 |
| #13 | Say You Won’t Let Go | James Arthur | 137 |
| #14 | rises the moon | Liana Flores | 136 |
| #15 | Pink + White | Frank Ocean | 135 |
| #16 | Cry | Cigarettes After Sex | 134 |
| #17 | White Ferrari | Frank Ocean | 130 |
| #18 | Ivy | Frank Ocean | 128 |
| #19 | To Build A Home | The Cinematic Orchestra | 126 |
| #20 | Good Days | SZA | 125 |
Continuing our ranking, there are 10 more songs we have found to be widely present in Spotify playlists listeners use to reduce stress and anxiety states.
One more song from Cigarettes After Sex is present in our ranking, highlighting the great calming effect several of their tunes have on listeners’ state of mind.
3 songs from Frank Ocean are also present, which makes him the second artist with the most present songs in Spotify calming playlists.
CasinoAlpha’s Key Takeaways on Study Results
We find it fascinating to observe music being used to reduce anxiety and stress levels; we believe it must be rewarding for the artists in the ranking to see their music bring peace to so many people, particularly Cigarettes After Sex, who have three songs in the top 10.
We think it would be interesting to see if there is a correlation between increased stress levels and a demand for musicians to produce therapeutic tracks for their fans.
