MoodyTunes

MoodyTunes is a mental health app that transforms mood through music

This was a collaborative process where young people, the app designers and curator worked with the research team not only to design a functional app but also one that had a look and feel that appealed.

The first user interface received feedback that is wasn’t hitting the mark and this was deterring young people from using it. So, the team went back to the drawing board and designed the app with a cross section of young people. We considered colour, graphics, interfaces, emoji, feedback devices and user pathways. The outcome is a genuine example of co-design and the results show. Use of the app continues to grow!

Moody Tunes is also backed by over a decade of research at Western Sydney University in partnership with the Black Dog Institute and NSW Mental Health Commission. Moody Tunes empowers young people to harness music for better mental well-being. The journey began by researching what music strategies actually work when people experience depression, anxiety, or simply feel low. We then collaborated directly with young people and mental health professionals to create this powerful tool.

How MoodyTunes Works:

MoodyTunes connects with your Spotify account to help you:

Identify which songs genuinely improve your mood
Track your emotional responses over time
Create personalized "Feel Better" playlists
Gain insights into how your thoughts and feelings about music influence your mental health

Music is one of our most instinctive resources during difficult times. MoodyTunes transforms this natural tendency into a purposeful practice for emotional wellbeing.

See Moody Tunes in action here https://www.moodytunes.com.au

Moody Tunes research was also translated by a group of NIDA students into an immersive, listening cocoon. Students from NIDA engaged with the research and then collaborated to create a comforting environment with lights, soft seating and a sheltered cocoon-like environment. On the way into the space, people recorded how they felt by using a body map, entered the space, listened to music and on exit revisited how they felt, again using the body map. This immersive, physical environment created a direct embodied experience that amplified opportunities to reflect on the way music can influence how we feel.

Images of the immersive listening coccoon and display courtesy of students from NIDA