What We Do

With our online content, participation at live events, and therapy resources, we improve lives and mental health outcomes through the stories and experiences of artists and fans — both inspiring human interconnectedness and feelings of hope, and demystifying access to mental health care.

1: Reduce Stigma

“Song That Found Me at the Right Time” Series

In this video series, we work with artists to tell the stories of how music and mental health care have improved their lives. In each video, an artist covers a song that has helped them during a difficult time and talks about how music and other activities — like therapy, meditation, or yoga — have helped them through challenging mental states. Produced in partnership with the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, their sister organization Vibrant Emotional Support, and other nonprofits, “Song That Found Me at the Right Time” has been featured in Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, AfroPunk, MTV and more.


Social Impact Media

Traditional mental health messaging often does not translate to people within musical subcultures. We create content for social media aimed at bridging that gap using relatable stories, a jargon-avoidant approach, and our shared connection to music. Offerings include:

• Instagram or TikTok Live discussions between an artist and therapist, an artist and a fan, or between multiple artists
• Pre-recorded video interviews edited into a short series
• Written interviews with photoshoot, translated into social assets.

In addition to social media campaigns and videos, we also create printed materials that can be distributed at live events and tours. We also partner with artists on virtual activations including performances, interviews, events, and storytelling.


2: Education & Engagement

Events

In order to reach as broad a group of fans as possible, we support a diverse array of programming, with our participation ranging from appearing on-site with mental health resources to leading educational discussions. Throughout the year, we put on a suite of events in collaboration with our ongoing partners: OFFAIR, Republic Records, National Sawdust, and more.

Our live Feedback Sessions bring together music and discussion about a mental health theme or issue and includes musicians, other artists or writers and mental health professionals. Past themes have included inertia and how to get "un-stuck" from it, gender identity, working through childhood trauma, and coping with pandemic-related depression and anxiety. While remaining intimate and conversational, SoS sessions tend to move from identifying a problematic issue to discussing ways of managing or coping with it.
High School + College Programs

SoS in Schools uses the power of music, discussion, and storytelling to connect high school students to local mental health professionals and pathways to care.

The program is broken into 2 parts:
Assembly style (1 hour): 3 musicians share music and stories. Each artist performs a few songs and talks in between songs, sharing a bit about the experiences and emotions that led to the writing of that song. 

Breakout discussions (1 hour): Each musician is paired off with 1 mental health professional and a small group of students to engage in discussion, reflection, and mutual story sharing, where the students are as central as the artists.

Artists at past programs include Erick the Architect, Pink Siifu, Cleo Reed, Bryndon Cook, deem spencer, and Maassai.
SoS On Tour

We join tours—like Courtney Barnett's Here and There Festival in 2022, and Re:SET in 2023—to bring education and resources to locales where mental healthcare is scarce and difficult to navigate. At each stop we partnered with a local mental health professional and a member from the 988 Suicide + Crisis Lifeline, who were there to help fans navigate local resources and demystify the process of getting help. 

We've handed out over 4,000 of our own wallet crisis cards that had a QR code with access to local mental health resources. We've also collected 500+ (and counting) “Songs That Found Me At The Right Time” cards, which fans filled out with their personal stories on one side and “three songs that found them” on the other. These cards not only resulted in a playlist over 36 hours long, but also deepened a broader connection to the music community that is essential to fans’ mental health.

3: Pathways to Treatment


Therapy Fund

NOTE: The Fund is currently closed. Please check back here, or follow our Instagram @soundsofsaving, to be notified of future openings

We offer grants to artists and select fans in need to provide brief psychotherapy (up to 12 sessions) at no cost, with experienced and culturally competent clinicians in their area or online, and partner with specific clinical networks to increase the likelihood that participants are able to financially afford treatment if desired following the grant period.

Through our partnerships, initiatives and network of clinicians, we are committed to using awareness and education to demystify the mental healthcare landscape for those in need — particularly in underserved and youth communities — and helping all our followers and attendees find available, affordable and culturally competent treatment.