The Best Music to Make You Fall Asleep

Can’t sleep? Listen to these music and drift peacefully to a slumber without any difficulty.

Remember the days when your mother hummed you to sleep? Lullabies exist for a reason. According to the National Sleep Foundation, music helps you calm down, thanks to its direct effect on the parasympathetic nervous system which calms your body and preps it for snoozing. Adults who listen to 45 minutes of calm, relaxing sounds fall asleep faster and sleep longer. Teens who choose classical music and soothing podcasts also saw improvement in sleep quality.

The Mindlab Institute also conducted their own research. Enlisting 40 women in this study, they compared sleep-inducing tracks, including ones from current bands and instrumentals. One track, however, stood out from the rest. This is Marconi Union's Weightless, dubbed as the world's most relaxing song, specifically engineered in collaboration with sound therapists. By listening to this ambient track, it was reported that participants experienced decrease in blood pressure, heart rate and stress.

Here is a glorious 8-minute calmfest which has been listened to by more than 6 million users.

Another famously "sleepy" soundtrack is the wordless composition by Max Richter called aptly as “Sleep.” This almost-eight-hour score is crafted with strings, piano and electronics, meant to be “slept through.” Richter himself couldn’t describe what happens in the next 6 hours of the track, because, comically, he has been sleeping.

But there's no one-soundtrack-fits-all when it comes to your Zzzs. Your bedtime music is a matter of personal choice. Jose Colon, M.D., the man behind The Sleep Diet: A Novel Approach to Insomnia, disclosed that your night-time playlist should be different from your morning pick-me-upper. Why? Your subconscious tends to associate those music with alertness, and thus, will keep you awake.

Instead, take a cue from Spotify's vast library of sleep playlists. You can find ones attuned to your ears, from calm to acoustic, to classical to ambient. Throw in a mix of soft jazz or a gentle EDM to make it more fun. Want something contemporary? Why not add Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud, which is the most popular track for most sleep playlists in the platform?

For a more contemporary twist, here’s Spotify’s Top 20 Most Streamed Tracks for Sleep, which includes tracks from Sam Smith, the Weeknd, Fifty Shades of Grey OST and Rain Sounds.