Aquatic Music Therapy: When Underwater Music Opens New Possibilities
What if a swimming pool could become much more than a place for swimming, rehabilitation, or relaxation?
For more than 30 years, AquaMusic has been developing technology designed to deliver music directly underwater through specially engineered underwater speakers for swimming pools and spas.
Originally created to offer a unique sensory and listening experience, this technology is now being explored in new contexts involving relaxation, chronic pain, anxiety, and aquatic rehabilitation.
Recent developments have marked an important new step in this journey. Following an initial pilot study conducted in Balaruc-les-Bains, France, several new experiments and professional collaborations have helped expand research into what we now refer to as aquatic music therapy.
What Is Aquatic Music Therapy?
Aquatic music therapy combines several key elements:
body immersion in water;
music played directly underwater;
music sequences selected for relaxation or therapeutic environments;
a listening experience that goes beyond conventional airborne sound.
When listeners immerse their ears and most of their body underwater, music is perceived differently.
For decades, AquaMusic has explored this unique listening experience, particularly through the concept of underwater musical massage: music is not only heard, but also physically perceived by the immersed body.
This combination of immersion, listening, and physical sound perception now lies at the heart of current research into aquatic music therapy.
From Underwater Music to Clinical Research
The year 2025 marked an important milestone with the launch of the Crénomusic-care pilot study at the Balaruc-les-Bains thermal spa in France.
The study involved 22 spa patients experiencing chronic pain and combined three complementary approaches.
Balneotherapy
Participants were immersed in a thermal-water pool.
Music Therapy
The musical sequences were provided by Music Care, a solution developed around the use of music in healthcare settings.
Underwater Music
Music was delivered directly into the pool using the AquaMusic underwater sound system.
Each session lasted approximately 20 minutes, with pain and anxiety levels evaluated before and after the underwater listening experience.
The results presented as part of this pilot study showed reductions in reported pain and anxiety scores following the sessions.
However, these findings come from an exploratory study involving a limited number of participants. Larger, controlled studies are still required to confirm the results.
A New Step in Chronic Pain Research
Research did not stop with the Balaruc-les-Bains pilot study.
In 2026, Dr. Luc Brun, a physician specializing in pain management, received a favorable opinion from the North-West II Committee for the Protection of Persons, a French research ethics committee, regarding underwater musical interventions in physical therapy settings for people living with chronic pain.
This approval allows the approach to be evaluated within a defined clinical research framework.
It should not be interpreted as proof of the therapeutic effectiveness of aquatic music therapy. Instead, it represents another important step toward scientifically assessing the potential benefits of this approach.
Testing at the Narbonne Private Hospital
As part of this ongoing work, AquaMusic took part in an underwater listening session at the swimming pool of the Narbonne Private Hospital in June 2026.
Patients undergoing rehabilitation were able to experience underwater music, including a therapeutic composition provided by Music Care.
The objective is to better understand how water immersion and underwater sound may be integrated into rehabilitation environments and into the care of people living with chronic pain.
AquaMusic Tested at the Lamalou-les-Bains Thermal Spa
Another recent milestone took place at the Lamalou-les-Bains thermal spa, where AquaMusic temporarily equipped one of the facility’s pools in collaboration with Dr. Luc Brun and Music Care.
This environment is particularly relevant for exploring aquatic music therapy.
Warm water, buoyancy, and the muscular relaxation associated with thermal therapy create a specific setting in which underwater music can be evaluated.
The question therefore goes beyond simply adding music to a swimming pool.
Can Water Become a True Medium for Musical Experience?
This is precisely what current research into aquatic music therapy is attempting to better understand: the interaction between sound, water, the body, and immersion.
A Musical Experience That Is Both Auditory and Physical
Listening to music underwater is very different from simply placing a conventional speaker near a pool.
Sound travels through water differently than it does through air.
AquaMusic therefore also focuses on the acoustic performance of its underwater speakers, with the goal of reproducing a sufficiently balanced frequency range from low frequencies to high frequencies.
Sound quality is essential.
For a genuine musical experience to exist underwater, sound must do more than simply remain audible. Music must retain enough clarity, dynamics, and detail to create a coherent immersive experience.
This is why AquaMusic regularly performs acoustic testing on its underwater sound systems.
Demonstrations for Pool, Spa, and Hydrotherapy Professionals
AquaMusic also continues to introduce its technology to professionals working in the swimming pool, spa, hydrotherapy, and wellness industries.
A recent demonstration near Barcelona allowed Stéphane Barralis, an experienced professional in the spa, hydrotherapy, and swimming pool industry, to directly experience underwater music.
These sessions provide valuable feedback from professionals who already understand the challenges associated with water environments, spas, and wellness facilities.
They also help bridge the gap between laboratory research, medical experimentation, and practical applications in aquatic environments.
More Than 30 Years of Underwater Audio Research
Although the term aquatic music therapy is relatively new within AquaMusic’s communication, the company’s work with underwater music is not.
As early as the 1990s, Noël Canivenq was developing concepts for delivering music underwater and experimenting with new ways of turning swimming pools into immersive listening environments.
Over the years, this work evolved into a range of waterproof underwater speakers designed for private swimming pools, public aquatic facilities, spas, hotels, and specialized environments.
Today, decades of experimentation are converging with a new field of interest: the scientific study of non-pharmacological interventions and complementary approaches to well-being and healthcare.
What Is the Future of Aquatic Music Therapy?
It is still too early to present aquatic music therapy as a medically validated treatment.
The initial findings are encouraging, but researchers emphasize the need for further investigation through controlled and randomized studies involving larger numbers of participants and longer-term follow-up.
Several potential areas of application are currently being explored.
Chronic Pain
Music-based interventions are being investigated as complementary approaches for people living with persistent pain.
Relaxation and Anxiety
The combination of immersion, reduced external stimulation, and underwater music may contribute to a deeply relaxing environment.
Aquatic Rehabilitation
Physical therapy pools and aquatic rehabilitation facilities represent another potential area of research and application.
Thermal Therapy
The work carried out in Balaruc-les-Bains and the tests conducted in Lamalou-les-Bains also highlight the potential role of underwater music in thermal spa environments.
Spa and Wellness
Even outside medical applications, underwater music can offer hotels, spas, wellness centers, and private pools a distinctive sensory experience.
AquaMusic: Continuing to Explore the Connection Between Water and Music
More than 30 years after Noël Canivenq’s first experiments with underwater sound, one idea remains at the center of the AquaMusic project:
Water fundamentally changes the way we perceive music.
Today, collaborations with healthcare professionals, thermal spa facilities, music therapy specialists, and swimming pool professionals are allowing AquaMusic to explore this idea from a new perspective.
The objective is no longer simply to make music audible underwater.
It is now about understanding what happens when water, sound, the body, and music come together.
This is the challenge — and the opportunity — behind the next phase of aquatic music therapy research.
Frequently Asked Questions About Aquatic Music Therapy
What Is Aquatic Music Therapy?
Aquatic music therapy is an approach that combines water immersion with underwater music.
AquaMusic is currently exploring its potential use alongside music therapy, thermal spa treatments, relaxation, and aquatic rehabilitation.
How Do You Listen to Music Underwater?
Music is played through speakers specifically designed to operate underwater.
When the listener’s ears are submerged, sound travels through the water and creates a very different listening experience from conventional music played through speakers in the air.
Can Aquatic Music Therapy Help With Chronic Pain?
Pilot studies have reported reductions in pain and anxiety scores following underwater music sessions.
However, these early findings still need to be confirmed through larger and more rigorous clinical studies.
Aquatic music therapy should therefore be viewed as an area of ongoing research rather than an established treatment for chronic pain.
Where Can Underwater Music Be Used?
Underwater sound systems can be used in a wide variety of environments, including:
private swimming pools;
public pools;
spas;
hotels and resorts;
thermal spa facilities;
wellness centers;
aquatic rehabilitation pools;
specialized healthcare environments.
What Equipment Is Needed to Play Music Underwater?
AquaMusic develops waterproof underwater speakers specifically engineered to transmit music directly through the water in swimming pools and spas.
These speakers are connected to a compatible amplification system to create an immersive underwater listening experience.
