bestmusicforsleep

Best music for sleep / Sleep sets / Music for when you can't sleep

Set 04 of 6 · Back to sleep · 1500 K · ember glow

Music for when you can't sleep

For waking up at 3 AM with the house asleep: the darkest, gentlest tracks, nothing bright and nothing with a hook, to give your mind somewhere quiet to rest while you wait for sleep to come back. Free under CC BY 4.0: dreamy chillwave and ambient downtempo by Purrple Cat, every track in full with a free MP3.

Slowness≈60–83 BPM
Softnessvery soft
Warmthwarm
Steadinesssteady
When
Awake at 3 AM
Good for
Waking in the night, jet lag, a late night that won't end.
Timer
30 min, then a slow fade
From
9 releases: Sleep Tight, Sands of Time, Sea of Stars, House in the Woods, Above the Clouds, Bloom, Cat Nap, Whispers in the Dark, Nostalgia and Moving On

Tips for this set

  • Don't check the time. Press play, turn the screen face down and let the timer handle it.
  • A 30-minute timer is plenty; it fades out so slowly you won't notice it stop.
  • Keep the screen dark: the Lights-out screen is nearly black on purpose.

Why these tracks

Every Purrple Cat track was measured for tempo, loudness, brightness and steadiness. The back to sleep set scores all 343 of them against its own rules, takes no more than 3 from any one release, leaves out the spooky albums and orders the picks so the set drifts gradually softer: 41 min of music before it loops.

Back to sleep1500 K · ember glow · 9 releases · 30 min, then a slow fade
.m3u8
  1. +0:00
    All Curled UpSleep Tight · 2025
    2:28MP3
  2. +2:28
    Breathing UnderwaterSleep Tight · 2025
    2:58MP3
  3. +5:26
    Dune DrifterSands of Time · 2024
    2:31MP3
  4. +7:57
    EquinoxBloom · 2020
    2:20MP3
  5. +10:16
    DiscoveryHouse in the Woods · 2021
    2:24MP3
  6. +12:40
    LullabyBloom · 2020
    2:36MP3
  7. +15:17
    Empty Food BowlCat Nap · 2019
    2:41MP3
  8. +17:58
    Spring ShowersBloom · 2020
    3:02MP3
  9. +21:00
    Sea of StarsSea of Stars · 2022
    2:21MP3
  10. +23:21
    Whispers in the DarkWhispers in the Dark · 2019
    2:54MP3
  11. +26:16
    Goodbye, I Hope We Meet AgainNostalgia and Moving On · 2019
    3:21MP3
  12. +29:37
    WeightlessSleep Tight · 2025
    3:15MP3
  13. +32:52
    SighNostalgia and Moving On · 2019
    2:46MP3
  14. +35:37
    Cat Nip DazeCat Nap · 2019
    2:28MP3
  15. +38:05
    BalloonAbove the Clouds · 2020
    3:15MP3
15 full tracks · 41:21Free · CC BY 4.0, with credit
→Free use

Free to use, with credit.

Putting this set under a sleep video or a relaxation stream? It's all free under CC BY 4.0.

Free to use

  • All social media. YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Twitch, Facebook, X and the rest, including monetised videos, 8-hour sleep videos, sleep streams, Shorts and Reels.
  • Other projects too. Podcasts, meditation and relaxation content, games, apps, ads, client work and school projects.
  • Edit it to fit. Cut, loop, slow down or fade tracks, and say it's edited in the credit.
  • Credit Purrple Cat. “Music: Purrple Cat (purrplecat.com), licensed under CC BY 4.0”.

Never

  • Never re-upload or release it on streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer or Tidal, through a distributor or any other route.
  • Never release remixes, samples or covers of it on streaming services either.
  • Never register it in Content ID or claim other people's videos with it.
  • Never pass it off as your own or sell the tracks as they are.

Why so strict about streaming? Re-uploads, remixes, samples and covers on Spotify, Apple Music and other services get fingerprinted, and then false Content ID claims hit everyone who uses the music properly. Purrple Cat Self Releases have no Content ID, so there's nothing to clear when you use them as intended.

Music: Purrple Cat (purrplecat.com), licensed under CC BY 4.0
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The rest of the night.