A Focused Survey of Generative AI-Based Music Therapy Systems: Recent Progress and Open Challenges

Generative artificial intelligence (AI)-based music generation has the potential to create new opportunities for music therapy; however, integrated examinations of generative AI and music therapy remain limited. This paper provides a focused survey of recent studies that apply generative AI within music therapy-related contexts, examining how such approaches have been explored in relation to therapeutic considerations, including emotional and physiological regulation. Rather than offering an exhaustive historical review, we analyze generative AI-augmented music therapy systems from a system-level perspective, focusing on their overall design and implementation. Based on this survey, we discuss open research challenges at the intersection of generative music, adaptive systems, and digital health, and outline future research directions toward scalable and personalized generative AI-based music therapy.