Why these sounds?

love.fm plays steady, instrumental audio. No lyrics, no brainwave promises. Sound isn't universally good for focus or sleep. Try a few and keep what works for you.

Focus

Studies find that lyrics make reading harder, while instrumental music is roughly neutral—not a proven boost. A 2024 meta-analysis of 13 studies found a small benefit from white or pink noise on attention tasks in people with ADHD or attention difficulties, and a small negative effect in people without them. Most participants were children, and these were lab tasks, not full work sessions.

Brown noise is popular, but that review found no brown-noise studies to include. That isn't proof it works or doesn't work. Our Reading selection favors steady, low-melody sounds; silence may suit you better, too.

Relax

Early research suggests binaural beats may help some people relax, but they aren't a treatment. Evidence that they change brainwaves is inconsistent: a 2023 review found support in 5 of 14 studies, contradictory results in 8, and mixed results in 1. An older 2019 meta-analysis reported benefits across several outcomes, but study designs vary and later reviews are more cautious.

We include binaural tracks because people enjoy them, not because they're proven to change your brain. The binaural effect requires headphones, with a different tone reaching each ear.

Sleep

Steady sound can mask noises that disturb you, but evidence that it improves sleep itself is weak. A 2021 review of 38 articles rated the evidence very low quality: some studies found faster sleep onset, while others found disrupted sleep. Studies were small and inconsistent, often relying on self-reports.

Keep the volume low and consider setting the sleep timer rather than playing sound all night. Long-term safety of all-night noise isn't established, especially for infants.

Sources

Research notes dated October 14, 2026. These summaries are not medical advice.

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