Shake your thing and get in shape with the new Spotify app from Reebok and The Echo Nest

Music intelligence platform, The Echo Nest, has partnered with Reebok for a Spotify app for fitness fanatics or casual exercisers to get their groove on and motivate themselves into motion.

Reebok FitList is a free app for Spotify and it provides a few methods for creating the perfect soundtrack to work out to.

Personally I get bored with familiar playlists while out running and a little new music can go long way to putting more pep in each step. However, a totally random selection can throw you a few curve balls, especially if you’re hoping to step to a consistent beat.

Not everyone likes to run to music, but for those who do, choosing the right songs and placing them in the right order can be helpful for motivation.

Through the new app, users can specify an activity such as jogging, yoga, dancing, walking or training; set an intensity level and the length of the workout. From there, choose an artist to base the playlist around and The Echo Nest’s information about every song in the Spotify catalog helps to create a playlist.

The end result includes songs by the chosen artist as well as similar tracks to spice things up and add a little fresh flavour.

If you’re stumped for inspiration, users can also choose from Rebook FitList playlists which are curated by Reebok, athletes, celebrities and other users. Not a bad idea if you want to fit in a quick run around the block and you don’t have time to fiddle with the settings.

If you are feeling creative, you can create playlists and share them with others. The music selections can be played for free on any computer with Spotify, and you can add them to your permanent collection.

Premium subscribers can access the tracklists from portable devices with the Spotify app, and even store them on their smartphones for playback without a cellular connection. This is a nice option if you take you prefer to work out in remote locations, don’t fancy burning up your data plan or if you fancy keeping your battery life a little longer.

Over 350 applications have been built on The Echo Nest platform. As a machine learning system that actively reads about and listens to music everywhere on the web, The Echo Nest opens up
dynamic music data for over 5 billion data points on over 30 million songs. This naturally helps developers to re-shape the experience of experimenting with and listening to music.

A four-time National Science Foundation grantee, the Echo Nest was co-founded by two MIT PhDs. Investors include Matrix Partners, Commonwealth Capital Ventures, and three co-founders of MIT Media Lab.

Image Credit: Mike Baird, flickr.bairdphotos.com