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A generational change at the beginning of the twenty-first century intersected with the technological advance of the Internet to provide a renaissance of Broadway music in popular culture. Downloading playlists allowed the home listener to become, in essence, his/her own record producer; length, narrative, performer were now all in the hands of the consumer’s personal preference. Following in the footsteps of Rent (as a favorite of a younger demographic), Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton emerged as the greatest pop culture/Broadway musical phenomenon of the twenty-first century; its cast album and cover recording shot up near the top of music’s pop charts. A rediscovery of the power of Broadway’s music to transform listening and consumer habits seems imminent with the addition of Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen to a devoted fan base—and beyond.

This chapter introduces a music therapy treatment manual for depressed young people with an emphasis on emotion regulation that is descriptively explained using illustrative examples. A short overview on the current state of research and on treatment approaches for children and adolescents with depression is provided. Recent research that supports the hypothesis of depression mainly being a disorder of emotion regulation involving severe mood disturbances is described. Furthermore, a strong association between music processing and emotion regulation is identified. Since listening to music and associated activities are of major importance to young people, a treatment manual tailored to integrating findings from current music therapy practice and research was developed. The focus of the manual is mainly on stabilization, improvement of emotion regulation, and working on interpersonal relationships, integrating interventions such as playlist creation, improvisation, songwriting, and mindful music listening.

Chapter 9 discusses the rare phenomenon of musical hallucinations. For some they are unwanted, persistent, and dramatically intrusive. Others hear phantom music that is sophisticated, beautiful, and sometimes original. People often describe their hallucinated music in terms of “playlists” composed of music in many different genres, from which fragments seem randomly selected. One such playlist might include folk songs, religious hymns, Christmas carols, patriotic songs, and children’s songs. The music often sounds as though played on a scratched or broken record, or on a tape constantly being rewound. Musical hallucinations are most likely to be experienced by elderly people with hearing loss, but young people with normal hearing, including excellent musicians, also experience them. Some may be caused by an unusually large amount of brain activation, particularly in the temporal lobe. People who have been isolated for long periods may also experience hallucinations, including of music. Hallucinations of speech are also described and discussed. Reports of musical hallucinations show that the different attributes of music can be retrieved or lost independently. A hallucinated piece might be heard in the wrong tempo or loudness, or as played by an unknown instrument. Famous musicians who hallucinated music include Robert Schumann, Bedřich Smetana, and Sviatislav Richter.