A six-year-old reminds us that Granny needs her music more than the John Lewis Dad needs a vinyl

John Lewis's 2025 Christmas campaign is beautiful. Genuinely moving. It shows what we all know: music bridges gaps, unlocks emotion, connects us across age and experience. I think it’s brilliant advertising.

But here's the part they didn't show: the generation that created popular music is now largely locked out of accessing it. It’s a scandal to have grown up in the era of rock and roll and not be able to listen to the music that defined your youth, especially when it’s needed to improve your health.

Our research with 1,000 family carers found that only three in ten can stream music with their loved one living with dementia. Age UK's data is equally stark: six in ten internet users over 65 never use the internet to stream music or videos.

Not because they don't want to. Because modern technology didn't include them in the design.

Inspired by the John Lewis ad, we decided to make our own to highlight this problem. Shot in ten days on a tiny budget, it opens with a woman fumbling with vinyl records, contemplating whether to play a CD in a toaster and staring at a mobile phone she doesn't seem to understand.

Then her six-year-old granddaughter hands her a children’s Yoto Player. In pops the music card. Music plays. And then everything changes in that moment of connection.

Research proves that music manages dementia symptoms, brings back memories, creates moments of connection and combats isolation. But only if people can access it.

It’s crazy that in 2025 technology is locking people out of their music, not enabling it. Manufacturers often neglect older users in their designs, presumably because they aren't considered a priority market.

They're not digital natives who spend vast amounts of money on technology. Building accessible technology for them is considered niche, not essential.

But here’s the thing: they're not niche. In the UK, 940,000 people are currently living with dementia. That figure is projected to rise to 1.5 million by 2040.

I’m sure every reader of this will know at least someone with dementia. They're someone's parent, or in my case, my grandmother and grandfather.

This Christmas, two ads tell you what music can do. One tells you to spend money. One tells you to help someone reconnect with the soundtrack of their life.

The six-year-old in our film knows which one matters more. What do you think?

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Amy Shackleton is the Programme Lead at Music for Dementia and m4dRADIO.com.

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