Brain.fm's $14.99 Focus Music Works, But Science Is Unclear

Brain.fm's focus music works, but the science is complicated

Brain.fm, a subscription music service that costs $14.99 per month, claims its AI-enhanced tracks can improve focus, sleep, and meditation. After weeks of testing, I found it noticeably easier to start my work in the morning while using it.

This created a personal conflict. The service worked, but I resented not listening to my favorite music. I had to know: was this a real neurological effect or an expensive placebo?

The initial verdict from a neuroscientist

I contacted Daniel J. Levitin, professor emeritus of neurology at McGill University. His reply was blunt: "It's all placebo."

However, Levitin referred me to another researcher, Psyche Loui, a neuroscientist at Northeastern University. Her published work suggested the story was more nuanced.

How the service works

Brain.fm doesn't offer songs by artist. You select an intention like Focus, Relax, Meditate, or Sleep. The Focus category has sub-options including Deep Work, Motivation, and Creativity.

The music is all instrumental, ranging from ambient post-rock to symphonic pieces. Kevin Woods, a neuroscience PhD at Brain.fm, explained the core philosophy.

"Most music is made to grab your attention," Woods said. "The problem is that a lot of the distraction is not overt... it's more like, 'I'm working at 70, 80% capacity, and I'm not really sure why.'"

Their in-house composers intentionally write music that fades into the background. The company claims its key differentiator is a layer of sound called "amplitude modulation."

The science of amplitude modulation

Brain.fm's central claim rests on "amplitude modulation"—fast, fluttering sound modulations added to tracks in post-production using AI. Users can adjust the intensity of this effect.

The company points to several studies, including research partly funded by the National Science Foundation, on its website. The most relevant study was co-authored by Brain.fm's Kevin Woods and neuroscientist Psyche Loui.

Published in Communications Biology, the paper found that music with amplitude modulation helped people focus on tasks better than both pink noise and the same music without the modulation.

"We did something which is rarely done in music research, which is a very well-controlled study that only changes one factor in the music," Woods told me.

Loui confirmed the research, stating it's "not all placebo." The study's publication in a Nature-affiliated journal lends it credibility, though the findings are specific and narrow.

Key takeaways from testing Brain.fm

My experience and the available research point to a few concrete conclusions:

• The amplitude modulation effect is disorienting to some. I often used the "ADHD Mode" (the highest setting) but sometimes needed to turn it down.
• The science is promising but not settled. A peer-reviewed study shows a positive effect, but more independent replication is needed.
• It prompted a useful reflection. Using the service made me question if my habit of discovering new music while working was itself a distraction.
• It's more expensive than major streamers. At $14.99/month, it costs $2 more than a standard Spotify subscription.

A practical tool with an open question

Brain.fm functioned as an effective tool for me. The music is engineered to be non-distracting, and the amplitude modulation appears to have a measurable, if subtle, effect based on current research.

However, the core question remains: is the modulation uniquely powerful, or would any bland, instrumental background music achieve a similar result? I sometimes achieve a comparable focus state by listening to entire albums by artists like Boards of Canada.

The service offers a free trial, which is the best way to gauge its personal utility. For anyone chronically distracted by their own playlists, it provides a structured, research-informed alternative that just might work.