Spotify’s 20 most soothing tunes based on 76,000 ‘relaxing’ track pics

In moments of distress, people tend to turn up the music to tune out the world – and Spotify has compiled a list of the world’s 20 most relaxing songs to help soothe the soul. 

A new analysis of over 76,000 tracks selected by Spotify users for their most chill public playlists reveals songs by folk-pop artist Ed Sheeran – ‘Perfect’ and ‘Thinking out Loud’ – are sure to ease your mind.

Songs by R&B crooner John Legend, TikTok sensation Surf Mesa, and the contemplative UK rockers of Coldplay also placed high in Spotify listener’s rankings. 

But you may not recognize the music streamer’s most soothing artist – award-winning Bollywood film composer, instrumentalist, and singer Pritam (Pritam Chakraborty).

Of the top 150 highest-scoring songs on the relaxing list, Pritam had the largest body of work, with 10 tracks in the top 150 in all, including ‘Tum Se Hi’ (6th), ‘Raabta’ (19th), and ‘Subhanallah’ (20th).

Despite holding the top two spots, Ed Sheeran’s songs only appeared seven times total, followed closely behind by Coldplay with five songs amid the top rankings, notably their hits ‘Yellow’ (8th), ‘The Scientist’ (9th) and ‘Fix You’ (47th). 

Pop singer-songwriter Billie Eilish was the only female artist to appear in the top ten, with three tracks in the rankings: ‘Lovely’ (24th), ‘I Love You’ (115th), and ‘When the Party’s Over’ (116th). 

The Spotify playlist selections were scoured and scrutinized using Playlist Miner, an aggregator created by Spotify’s director of developer platform Paul Lamere. 

Using search terms ‘chill,’ ‘relax,’ ‘calm’ and ‘soothing,’ 76,3281 tracks were analyzed and scored based on their frequency for each cozy, low-key search term and then added together across terms for a combined total. Representatives for home fragrance company Ava May Aromas conducted the Spotify playlist survey.

So, what makes a song so darn relaxing?

Ed Sheeran’s ‘Perfect’ ranked as the top ‘relaxing’ track, based on a survey of Spotify playlists

Award-winning Bollywood film composer and singer Pritam (Pritam Chakraborty) had the most songs on the top 150 ‘relaxing’ list. And pop singer-songwriter Billie Eilish was the only female artist to appear in the top ten, with three tracks in top 150, including her hit ‘Lovely’ (24th)

According to music producer Andy Freeman of Studio Punch-Up!, the key is all in the initial acoustic moments of each sound, called transients.

‘A transient is the initial spike or attack of a sound. For example, the initial snap of a drumstick against a snare drum or a handclap,’ Freeman said. ‘These are all sounds with a sharp attack that goes away quickly.’

‘Contrast this with a sound that has no transients like ocean waves, wind, or the strings in an orchestra,’ Freeman added. 

‘Those sounds gradually fade into the music rather than punctuate it. They are gentle and, therefore, soothing. They fade into the background.’

To Freeman’s ears, Ed Sheeran is an undisputed master of the soft transient.  

‘If you listen to Sheeran’s new album, “Subtract,”‘ he said, ‘you’ll notice that there are barely any hard transients.’ 

‘There are drums, but all the transients – the spikes – are rounded off,’ according to Freeman, ‘so the drum “hit” is nice and gentle. There are no spikes anywhere so it’s all smooth and relaxing.’ 

That musical technique is just one reason why the calm, comforting Yorkshire-born crooner ranks so highly among the artists most likely to put you to sleep.