How To Choose Massage Music

What makes good massage music? Mostly, it’s personal preference.

Many people prefer meditative, relaxing music for massage. But sometimes energizing or uplifting tunes are a good choice, depending on massage modality and atmosphere. For example, uplifting music would work for sports massage at a sporting event.

Client Preference Is Most Important

When you have music playing, ask your clients if they like it or if they prefer different music (or none). If the music irritates the client, no matter how much you like it, your client isn’t getting the full benefit of the massage session. Keep a variety of music on hand to suit a wide range of client preferences.

Tips for Selecting Massage Music

When choosing music, keep in mind these general considerations:

• For relaxation, look for music with a continual, flowing melody and no sudden tempo changes. You want the composition to be predictable and optimistic.

• Avoid music with lyrics or words, as many people don’t find lyrics relaxing.

• Avoid anything that might thread on religious beliefs.

• Be careful with flute music: Sometimes the flute can reach a very high pitch that irritates a relaxed client.

• Be careful with drumming music: While drumming can induce a trance-like relaxing state for some people, other people find drumming too stimulating for relaxation.

• Be careful with water sounds: They might stimulate a person’s need to urinate.

• Be careful with nature sounds: A light breeze might add ambience to the music but strong windy sounds could cause someone to feel blown away. Thunder and lightning sounds, even light ones, can startle people.

• Be careful with classical music: Some people love it and some hate it.

If you want to get more technical with buying music, you might consider its texture, as described in this article. Texture refers to how thick or thin the lead instrument sounds and to the quality of other instruments and ambient sounds.

No matter what type of music you use, keep it at a relaxing volume.

Other Music Considerations

When buying music, listen to as much of the album as possible first. A 60-second sample often isn’t indicative of the entire album, and one track might ruin the entire massage session.

If you use a streaming service, be aware many of them require businesses to pay for using music—if you charge for massage, you are a business, even if you have a home office.

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