Universal Music Group is partnering with Portland, Maine-based MedRhythms Inc. on a new medical treatment program involving music.

Under the partnership announced Sept. 29, the companies will work together to build a prescription music platform. In addition to providing access to its expansive catalog, which includes music from Taylor Swift, Elton John and the Beatles, Universal will provide MedRhythms materials related to data analytics and marketing.
 
The terms of the deal were not disclosed. MedRhythms, which has raised $34 million since it was founded in 2015, is a digital therapeutics company focused on walking impairments.
 
It developed and patented technology that analyzes music for characteristics that are therapeutically relevant and helpful for an individual patient. It then curates a music prescription for the patient.

The company said its treatment program is based on research showing the positive effects of auditory rhythm on neurologic injuries and diseases, including strokes and Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

“With MedRhythms, we’re seeing the power of music harnessed to heal. … We’ve played a central role in promoting music’s growing importance throughout the health and wellness industry — fitness, sleep, meditation — and in this pioneering alliance, we’re privileged to be engaged in extending music’s profound impact to medical therapy,” Michael Nash, UMG’s executive vice president of digital strategy, said in a statement.
 
The Food and Drug Administration awarded breakthrough therapy designation to MedRythms last year. For now, the company’s digital therapeutic platform is only for use in clinical studies and is not available for purchase.
 
Six U.S. hospitals are conducting clinical trials with the platform, including Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Charlestown, Mass., which are among the top ranked rehab by U.S. News & World Report.