The #shareAsong campaign launches today, encouraging people to share a song with friends or family on social media and raise awareness for Dementia Action Week.
The AI-powered wellness platform Vera aims to reduce the impact of brain ageing by harnessing the therapeutic powers of music. Starting today, Vera is encouraging Australian music fans to share a song with someone close to them and reminisce on how that piece of music helped shape or define a significant moment in their lives.
The #shareAsong campaign is backed by Universal Music Group, YouTube, Jaxsta, Amazon Music, AIM and ARIA, as well as Oz rock icon Jimmy Barnes and comedian Matt Okine.
“We’re asking the nation to please #shareAsong from this September 21, and support an incredible initiative raising awareness for those suffering from dementia,” said ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd. “We all have one song that holds a special place – for me it’s Kylie Minogue’s ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Head’.”
Barnes’ support of the campaign holds personal significance. “Like so many families, ours has had to deal with losing loved ones to dementia,” he said. “Music seems to be one of the few ways of still reaching them as they slip away because we all make such deep connections with the songs that we love.”
So how does it work? Simply think of a song that helped define a moment, share it on social media along with a bit of info on what makes it so special, and tag the post #shareAsong. The campaign is also encouraging people to consider donating to families impacted by dementia during Dementia Action Week.
More broadly, Vera seek to raise awareness of music’s power to calm the mind, improve mood and trigger memories. “There is no other stimulus on earth that simultaneously engages our brains as widely as music does” said Brian Harris, Neurologic Music Therapist at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.
Here’s a real beauty to get you going.
