Spotify’s World Mental Health Day Campaign Amplifies Connection and Youth Voices with UNICEF

This World Mental Health Day, Spotify is helping listeners slow down, reconnect, and find belonging through the power of audio. With our campaign "Take a Beat. Tune Into Connection,"we're shining a light on the global loneliness crisis and encouraging people everywhere to pause and reconnect. While audio alone can't solve loneliness, it can be a powerful companion in bridging emotional and cultural divides.

At the heart of this campaign is the Take a Beat hub-a space filled with curated playlists, podcasts, audiobooks (where available), and features like Blend. Whether it's ambient sounds, conversations about belonging, or stories that bring people closer, the hub helps listeners find moments of calm, connection, and well-being. Joining the conversation are creators from around the world, including the hosts of GrownKid; Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, Ira Khan, Nikhil Taneja, and Ryan Lu; author Yung Pueblo; and artists Felix Jaehn, Mickey Guyton, and Raghav Sachar-who share how they "take a beat" and "tune into connection" through their own journeys on socials or on-platform.

Through activations across the platform and with our bandmates, Spotify is creating moments that inspire reflection and reconnection for artists, podcasters, authors, employees, and fans alike. The campaign builds on Heart & Soul, Mental Health for Creators. In partnership with leading nonprofits, this global effort aims to provide meaningful support, challenge cultural norms, and ensure that artists, songwriters, and their teams can access the help they need-when they need it.

The unifying power of audio

While Spotify connects millions of people through sound, we know not everyone has access to our platform. As part of our social impact work, Spotify is launching a micro-grant initiative to support nonprofits and community groups working to combat loneliness and strengthen social connection, especially for vulnerable populations.

In the US, the grant will support the Foundation for Social Connection, whose mission is to advance social connection nationwide, rooted in evidence for our collective well-being.Spotify is also partnering with Book It Around™, an audiobook walking club founded by Kit Ballengerand Morgan Menziesthat brings readers together through shared stories. To get ready, Book It curated a playlist of their favorite audiobookson connection and well-being.

Amplifying youth voices with UNICEF

Building on this global call to connection, Spotify and UNICEF are expanding our award-winning partnership with the Youth Mental Health Audio Innovation Challenge across five countries: Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, São Tomé and Príncipe, Timor-Leste, and Zimbabwe.

This new initiative empowers young people to co-create localized mental health audio content using audio as a bridge for connection and belonging-from podcasts and poetry to music and spoken word-rooted in their own languages and cultures. By transforming listening into creation, they are turning local stories based on their own experiences into tools for understanding and community, creating pieces that other young people can relate to.

Since 2022, the partnership has delivered trusted digital mental health content through the Our Minds Matter huband the On My Mind podcast, co-created with young people and based on UNICEF-led research. By amplifying authentic youth voices, this next chapter sparks meaningful conversations, encourages self-reflection, reduces stigma, and brings mental health support closer to the young people who need it most.

Take a beat, together

However you listen, audio has the power to help us feel seen, heard, and less alone. This World Mental Health Day, we invite you to take a moment-pause, tune into connection, and remember that we're never really alone.

Ready to explore audio that connects and supports? Check out the Take a Beathub on Spotify.