Apple Music’s New Saylists Could Help People With Speech Disorders

Could taking note of Apple Music help treat speech disorders like phone disorder (SSD), making it difficult for people to form certain speech sounds?

That’s the purpose of a series of latest “Stylists,” which are custom playlists made from popular songs that feature difficult-to-say sounds. the thought is that listeners could also be prompted to sing by featuring catchy songs with these speech sounds. That, in turn, can help them overcome vocal challenges through repetition.

Forget Playlists, These Are “Saylists”

“Stylists are a set of playlists that everyone specializes in a special sound,” notes Apple. “By choosing one and singing along, you’ll practice a sound you’ve got trouble with during a way that’s fun and, most significantly, not boring.”

Stylists include songs from famous artists including Ed Sheeran, Madonna, Coldplay, Rita Ora, Rihanna, Adele, David Bowie, Justin Bieber, Beyoncé, George Michael, Kylie Minogue, and lots of others. There are 10 Stylists available on the service, covering “ch,” “s,” “k,” “l,” “d,” “f,” “t,” “r,” and “g” sounds. All songs are currently English.

Repetition is boring but when you have a speech disorder, repetition is key to your treatment. @wearerothco @WarnerMusicUK have partnered with @AppleMusic to create #Saylists. A collection of playlists where singing can help your speech. Find your Saylist! https://t.co/4MG4gw8aMg pic.twitter.com/mVyrWYjpAP

— Warner Music Ireland (@Warnermusicirl) March 25, 2021

The most accessible thanks to accessing them is to type “Stylists” into the search bar. Stylists range from twelve songs to twenty songs and can play through or act like all other playlists —meaning that you can download the playlists for offline listening. Some songs appear on multiple Stylists.

Apple developed the new feature in conjunction with Rothco, a part of Accenture Interactive, and Warner Music. ZDNet notes that Rothco started by building an algorithm ready to sing precise speech sounds in songs. Apple Music then used this algorithm to seek out appropriate tracks in its roughly 70 million track catalogue. After this, pieces were selected by Warner Music and speech and language therapist Anna Biavati-Smith to make the finished Stylists.

Available on Apple Music

“Our goal was to assist redefine the long and sometimes painstaking journey that children with atypical speech can experience,” said Rothco chief creative officer Alan Kelly.

“Several members of our team who worked on Stylists themselves grew up with SSDs, so it is a personal project also. We recognized that there’s one place where many of us enjoy the rhythmic repetition of words and sounds–in music. We needed to analyze as many songs as possible to present children with something engaging. Pairing this with Warner’s curation meant we might be certain the songs within the Stylists will appeal to several different children .”

Stylists are available exclusively on Apple Music. If they also work as planned, however, hopefully, within the future, an identical approach might be adopted by other rival music streamers.