Apple Music Getting Saylists in Collab With Warner Music to Help Those With Sound-Speech Disorder

Apple has partnered with Warner Music and Accenture Interactive’s Rotco to launch “Saylists” on Apple Music. Saylists is a selection of songs to help young people who suffer from speech-sound disorder. According to a report in BBC, the feature will use algorithms to find songs lyrics in Apple Music’s library that repeat challenging sounds, allowing listeners to sing along as a form of speech therapy. Getting children with SSD to repeat challenging syllables, words, and phrases is considered as one of the most successful therapeutic strategies, the BBC report said. The repetition involved in the songs that “Saylists” will select will help users with SSD.

However, repeating lyrics continuously could get tedious and draining for children with SSD. That is why Apple Music’s “Saylists” are designed to add a fun and engaging element to the whole exercise. So far, the algorithm has selected 173 tracks that meet its criteria, including Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start now,” Lizzo’s “Good As Hell,” and Fatboy Slim’s “Right here, right now.” The BBC report quoted the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists chief executive Kamini Gadhok as saying, “we’re always pleased to hear about innovative approaches that support speech-and-language therapists in their work. As with all new techniques and tools, we recommend effective evaluation and monitoring of outcomes.”

The “Saylists” are only in English currently and can only be accessed on Apple Music in the United Kingdom, where one in 12 children experience some form of speed-sound disorder. It is not known if the program will be extended to more regions.