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Music in a session: what is played and who chooses

The question here is what published sources report about the music played during a psychedelic session, and whether any of it shows a link to outcomes. This card reports what others have published. It is not a playlist.

Published Information current to 8 November 2026Review due by 6 February 2027

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The short answer

What do published sources report about the music played during a psychedelic session, and does any of it show a link to outcomes?

In one systematic review, most clinical trials mentioned a playlist, but how the music was chosen is poorly documented. In a documented search, no source read in full compared music with silence, or one kind of music with another, on outcomes among healthy adults. The controlled comparisons that were read involved very small samples or people with a diagnosis, and none showed a clear difference.

What was found?

Reported findings, not recommendations. Each figure names its group and method. Associations are not causes.

  • Reporting in trials. A systematic review of 36 trials in people with psychiatric diagnoses, including MDMA trials, found that 25 mentioned a playlist. Thirteen gave any detail and seven linked to the list. Three stated that no music was used. Source 1, level 1
  • Healthy volunteers in their own words. In six laboratory trials at one Basel hospital, 151 healthy adults took classic psychedelics and placebo and heard music through headphones for most of the time. In open answers about the investigator, the room and what to improve, with no question about music, 52.7% of 150 named music among the factors that made the experience positive. Nothing was compared with silence. The authors note a uniform setting and possible social desirability. Source 2, level 1
  • One randomised comparison of music and no music. In 32 people with treatment-resistant depression given ketamine with psychological support, the music group (15) and the no-music group (17) did not differ on depression or on mystical-type experience. This was a secondary analysis of a trial powered for blood pressure, and the authors say larger samples may be needed. Ketamine is not a classic psychedelic. Not finding a difference in a small trial is not evidence of no effect. Source 3, level 1
  • Genre in a small sample. Ten smokers, physically healthy by screening, in an open-label trial heard two playlists in random order. Mystical-experience scores were higher with the overtone-based one on average, but not significantly. Source 4, level 1
  • Guides and patients. Ten experienced guides named pieces they considered supportive. This describes choices, not an effect. Source 5, level 1 Among 19 patients with depression, ratings of the music experience correlated with later depression scores, and drug intensity did not. There was no placebo arm, and the authors say cause cannot be inferred. Source 6, level 1
  • Traditional song. In an interview study of one ayahuasca ceremony in Peru, six healthy adults described the songs as guidance and, for some, an anchor. The authors say this cannot be generalised. Source 7, level 1, with level 4 descriptions of the tradition inside it

What is not known?

Searches on 8 November 2026 covered PubMed (4 strings) and ClinicalTrials.gov (1), with titles only for several. Preprint servers, Scopus and Web of Science were not searched. “Not located” means no source read in full showed it.

  • Whether music changes outcomes among healthy adults. Not located. The healthy-adult sources read in full are a pilot of ten, an interview study of six and volunteers’ own appraisals. None compared outcomes.
  • A trial of 100 healthy adults comparing personally meaningful music with a standard playlist and an ambient playlist began in 2025. Its record shows no results, with primary completion estimated for June 2028. Source 8, level 1
  • Traditional music other than that one ceremony was not covered by any source read in full.

What this card does not say

Send a correction

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Where does this come from?

Grade key: 1 = peer-reviewed publication or official record, 4 = traditional or ethnographic description, reported as the source states it. A grade names the type of source and says nothing about its quality. “Read in full” means Metanoia read every sentence of the text cited on the date given, and any part not read is named.

Review due by 6 February 2027.

  1. Cruz L et al. Music Playlist Use in Clinical Trials of Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy: A Systematic Review. J Clin Psychol 2026. DOI 10.1002/jclp.70167. PMID 42296474. Grade 1. Systematic review. Read in full 8 November 2026. Supplements not opened.
  2. Ley L et al. Motivation and retrospective appraisal of psychedelic study participation: a qualitative study in healthy volunteers. Psychopharmacology 2025. DOI 10.1007/s00213-025-06772-4. PMID 40140019. Grade 1. Qualitative content analysis of open answers. Read in full 8 November 2026 (PMC12296967). Tables and supplementary information not read separately. One author reports consulting for a psychedelic company, and the data were licensed to it.
  3. Greenway KT et al. Music for subanesthetic infusions of ketamine: randomised clinical trial (ketamine as a psychedelic treatment for highly refractory depression). Br J Psychiatry 2026. DOI 10.1192/bjp.2025.102. PMID 40528492. Grade 1. Analysis of secondary outcomes of a randomised trial. Read in full 8 November 2026. Supplement not opened. The main report of the trial was not read. One author is the founder of a company working on music for therapy.
  4. Strickland JC et al. Set and Setting: A Randomized Study of Different Musical Genres in Supporting Psychedelic Therapy. ACS Pharmacol Transl Sci 2021. DOI 10.1021/acsptsci.0c00187. PMID 33860177. Grade 1. Open-label pilot. Read in full 8 November 2026. Supplement not opened. All participants were nicotine-dependent smokers.
  5. Barrett FS et al. Qualitative and Quantitative Features of Music Reported to Support Peak Mystical Experiences during Psychedelic Therapy Sessions. Front Psychol 2017. DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01238. PMID 28790944. Grade 1. Anonymous survey of ten guides. Read in full 8 November 2026. Figures and reference list not checked.
  6. Kaelen M et al. The hidden therapist: evidence for a central role of music in psychedelic therapy. Psychopharmacology 2018. DOI 10.1007/s00213-017-4820-5. PMID 29396616. Grade 1. Uncontrolled study of patients. Read in full 8 November 2026. Supplement not opened.
  7. Sherwin M et al. Participant experiences of icaros (Amazonian curative songs) during a traditional medicine ceremony at the Takiwasi Center. J Psychedelic Studies 2025. DOI 10.1556/2054.2024.00370. Grade 1 for the paper, grade 4 for its descriptions of the tradition. Interpretative phenomenological analysis. Read in full 8 November 2026 (text only, the tables were not read).
  8. PRoMiSS: Psilocybin and the Role of Music in Set and Setting. ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT07180108. Grade 1. Registry record, a plan and not a result. Read in full 8 November 2026 through the registry interface.