For exercisers the world over, music & fitness go hand in hand - the archetypal "jogger with headphones" is so ubiquitous it's almost a meme. As we at Feed.fm like to say, "a gym without music is a gym without customers".... but have you ever stopped to think why this happened or how we got to this point? After all, Walkmen didn't exist before the 80's... and from a societal point of view, we have to assume there's a reason why music & exercise have come to be so intimately tied to one another. As we explain in this whitepaper, the fusion of technology with music has enabled billions around the world to bake their music consumption into their exercise routine. And it's not all iPods - we explore the case of an Olympic gold medalist distance runner who needed Eurodance disco tracks to be played while he set records around the world in the 80's and 90s, explore the burgeoning VC-style investments made in music technology companies by the dominant consumer fitness brands of today, and even look at some research exploring why music-accompanied workout regimens let people work harder while making the work seem less exhausting.

To be competitive in the fitness tech space, companies need to focus on tight integration between devices, content, and music. The space is highly competitive, with even startups spending 10s of millions on ads every quarter. With everyone looking for a competitive edge, we’ve got insights into market dynamics, the power of music, licensing intricacies, the craft of curation and the business value of music.

The bottom line is - whether someone is recovering from a health episode, is already a world-class athlete, or just hits the treadmill 3 times a week - music can and will help the quality of their workouts, if curated properly.

Discover how the science of music taste is driving innovation for fitness apps & brands - download now!