When we think about whole-body care in the health realm, we think of functional medicine, which rests on the belief that there is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to healing. To treat the full person, many different medicines or treatment modalities may be necessary.
But when we think about something as intangible as music, we often fail to take a whole-person approach. Googling “relaxing music” does nothing to describe what’s leading us to try to relax. Is it anxiety? Stress? Do we need help regulating our nervous system or alleviating insomnia? Just as there is no one pill to cure someone’s pain, there is no one approach to using music to feel better.
Music, like medicine, has many different functions—which is why Freddie Moross thinks the term “functional music” is a more holistic way of navigating a rather nuanced discussion.
As the founder of Myndstream, a company that creates and designs music for health and well-being for a variety of spaces, Moross says the term makes a clearer line in the sand regarding the ways we use music to feel things.
Why Myndstream?
He says when he started Myndstream in 2020, people were talking about music therapy—which involves using music in clinical settings alongside doctors—when they really meant mindful, wellness-focused music. “Others would say ‘sound therapy,’” he says, “which has a very kind of ancient, often experiential aspect to it [such as singing bowls]… and then there’ll be therapeutic music and other things which could be digital. It could be recorded music; it could be experiential to some degree. But for me, it was all quite messy in terms of definitions.”
Having grown up with a father who built a company focused on using music for entertainment—Philip Moross’ Cutting Edge Group has produced music for Stranger Things, Whiplash, Bridgerton and more—Moross was exposed to what most would call “mainstream music.” But now that he lives in the realm of music used for health and wellness, he isn’t so sure semantics help define purpose.
“An artist like Timbaland producing a rap record would be ‘mainstream music,’” he shares, “but I didn’t like the definition because Liquid Mind [a wellness-focused artist] has had several billion streams. He is mainstream. He’s popular… the intention behind the creation, that’s what separates [things]. Timbaland can come in and write a rap record, or he could come in and write a wellness music record. And the reason why he’s writing one versus the other is what he’s trying to achieve for the listener. It’s about the intention—the function of that concept.”
What is functional music?
Functional music, he says, asks at both the creation and the listening phases what function a piece of music is trying to achieve. “In the DNA of who we are, we come from this idea [that] you can create something quite magical with the right programming of music on screen and you can evoke certain emotions artistically,” Moross says. Which is why, when Cutting Edge acquired Real Music, a catalog of ambient and new age music with more than 70 artists and 3,000 tracks, the timing was perfect for him to bring functional music to the forefront.
“This type of music, it’s not there to entertain,” he says. It’s there “to elicit particular physiological, psychological reactions, to elicit particular outcomes that people are trying to achieve.”
When someone is looking for help with stress, anxiety or insomnia, for example, they can find Myndstream in the same places they would find entertainment: Amazon, Spotify, Apple, Pandora and YouTube. The brand’s entire music catalog lives in these places, only consumers have no idea when they select certain songs that Myndstream owns them. Most people may not even know the artists they choose. They simply know whether the feeling they’re trying to achieve is successful. In this way, Myndstream is offering an invisible hand, guiding consumers down the path where their music lives.
The many uses of Myndstream
In the other part of their business, however—the B2B side—Myndstream is in the unique position of being the first music streaming service for spas, with over 100 playlists categorized by mood and duration, allowing therapists to personalize music to the needs of their customers and treatment outcomes.
Many people don’t know that, as a spa or hotel owner, you can’t just hook up your phone to a streaming service and play music. The music on those platforms is not commercially licensed, which means those using it in a professional capacity can face big fines. Moross says the careful curation of music and the licensing peace of mind Myndstream offers is not only convenient for business owners, but it also has the potential to enhance the experience people are having in those spaces.
“Spa music for a long time has just been background,” he says, adding that “it doesn’t just have to be a whale in the background that people kind of try and tune out…. You can be creative with it. You can have fun with it; you can do things that people might not expect and maybe make some mistakes and take some risks, but also do things which can be really exciting that people will fall in love with your brand for.”
Collaborating toward the future
Taking risks is something Moross loves doing. As he continues to sign new talent, he’s proud of collaborations with established talent not known for their work in this niche industry.
Artists like Grammy-winning producer Timbaland—who is behind some of the biggest names in entertainment, such as Ludacris, Missy Elliott and Justin Timberlake—put out his first-ever wellness-focused album, Yellow, under the Myndstream label in December 2024.
Working with handpan artist Malte Marten, Timbaland has taken a serene departure from his musical roots. It’s a departure that matches the personal pivots in his own life, focusing on mindfulness after battling addiction.
“He was ready for a musical challenge, and here was a genre of music that was ready to be challenged,” Moross says.
Recognizing his company has a lot of room to grow, Moross believes Myndstream can do things no one else is doing, while using music to help people.
“The whole reason you get into business is to try and help grow things, right?” he asks. “You want to build value for everyone around you.”
This article originally appeared in the May/June 2025 issue of SUCCESS® magazine. Photo by Oleh_Slobodeniuk/iStock.com
