Objective To explore the effect of applying family music therapy in nursing care of premature infants. Methods Totally, 817 premature infants who were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit and their parents were divided into a control group of 256 cases, an music therapy（MT） group of 272 cases, and a family music therapy (FMT） group of 289 cases chronologically. The control group received conventional NICU care, the MT group received routine music therapy, while the FMT group received family comprehensive music therapy in the way that the parents or other family members prepared and recorded audio pieces which were later played to the infants. On admission and discharge, neonatal behavioral neurological outcomes parents′ anxiety and depression levels and parents′ satisfaction with the humanistic care of the three groups were measured and compared. Results On discharge，neonatal behavioral neurological scores of preterm infants in the FMT group were significantly higher than those in the other 2 groups (P<0.05，P<0.01). The anxiety and depression scores， and scores of satisfaction with humanistic care among parents in the FMT group were significantly lower than those in the other 2 groups (P<0.05，P<0.01). Conclusion Family comprehensive music therapy promotes neurobehavioral development in preterm infants, relieves anxiety and depression level in parents, and improves parent satisfaction with humanistic care.