Research Trends in Music and Health in the Last 50 Years: A Bibliometric Analysis

Research on music and health is rapidly expanding, but a systematic, data-driven overview of this interdisciplinary literature is lacking. This gap limits our understanding of key research trends and applications, potentially hindering the use of music as a health-promoting resource. To address this need, we conducted a bibliometric analysis of 7,503 articles on music and health indexed in Web of Science in the last 50 years (1970–2024). We identified (1) major themes in music and health research; (2) the evolution of research trends; (3) key publishing journals, authors, and countries; and (4) research collaboration networks. Our results revealed five main areas—music psychology and health, music perception, music interventions in healthcare, music interventions for older people, and music interventions for children—with overlapping interests but distinct goals, methods, and audiences. There has been a substantial increase in publications across all areas, yet we observed a thematic division in how these topics appear in journals and how authors collaborate. These findings highlight challenges in consolidating knowledge and establishing a cohesive and collaborative identity for the field. Overall, our analysis emphasizes the discipline's growth, mapping essential themes, contributors, and collaborations, offering valuable insights for advancing music and health scholarship and its practical applications.