Personalised music app

A technology innovator called Music Health has launched “Vera”, a music app designed for people with dementia.  Users of the Vera app can access the catalogue of the Universal Music Group (UMG), a leading music entertainment company, to create their own personalised music stations.  The charity Music for Dementia has welcomed the launch.  According to Music Health, Vera analyses the age of the person, where they grew up and how they are affected by certain music so that particular songs can be played at particular times in response to behaviours linked to stress and distress.  UMG offers one of the world’s largest music catalogues, including blues, classical, country, folk, jazz, pop, R&B, reggae, rock ‘n’ roll, soul and soundtracks. Stephen Hunt, Music Health co-founder, commented: “We’ve built Vera to know and find the music that means the most and has the biggest effect for each person living with dementia. It acts like a music detective, that seeks out tunes that they used to love a long time ago but may have forgotten about, which their carers may have never heard of, and their families may not even know.”  Bupa is understood to be among those trialling the app.  For more information, go to www.veramusic.com.