Campaign to Make Music Free For People With Dementia Launched in U.K.

A new U.K. movement aims to make music freely accessible on streaming services for people with dementia, reports Billboard . Music for Dementia 2020 will launch by urging streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music to offer free subscriptions for such individuals and their caregivers. "A song has the power to instantly transport us to a different place and time, and can have the most profound effect on people living with dementia and their carers," says Grace Meadows, senior music therapist at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and program director at Music for Dementia 2020. BBC Radio disc jockey Lauren Laverne is the campaign's newly-appointed ambassador, with funding from the Utley Foundation and support from Health Secretary Matt Hancock. "This is a generation who paid their music taxes by buying records and CDs and made the music industry what it is today," Laverne notes. "We'd love to see streaming services make music free for everyone living with dementia." International Longevity Center U.K. CEO Baroness Sally Greengross says attempts to improve music accessibility for people with dementia are falling short, in spite of mounting evidence of its benefits. "We hope that . . . Lauren Laverne and Music for Dementia 2020 will shine a light on the value of music as an intervention," she remarked.