Samsung – Optus

The Tokyo Olympic games are like no other. Without crowds, friends and family, Olympic athletes face an unfamiliar lack of support in the biggest sporting event of their careers.

Samsung and Optus wanted to show their support for Aussie athletes and turned to Resonance to explore how music could help improve athletes performance.

In a world first, we combined music, science, sports psychology and famous Australian artists to compose bespoke tracks for our Olympians to use pre-event, and help them achieve peak performance.

We called it Performance Enhancing Music.

Based on thorough research and academic consultation on the effects of music on the key physical and mental components of peak performance, we devised a compositional process for writing bespoke musical tracks. Each track was tailored to each athlete and their event in four ways: Scientific (Brainwave entrainment), Mechanical (rhythmic synchronisation), Personal (favourite artists, genres and mantras) and Musical (harmony, instrumentation, structure).

With Olympians in quarantine before travelling to Tokyo, we first tested the process on three elite amateur athletes, measuring the effects of our bespoke music on physical performance, heart rate, oxygen intake and neurological mapping. Then we composed and recorded tracks for our Olympic athletes.

A key part of the process was securing famous Australian artists chosen by each of the Olympians to feature as vocalists on the tracks. Our music licensing and artist liaison sister agency Big Sync secured Ian Kenny (Karnivool), Jordi Davieson (San Cisco), Alex the Astronaut and Sheppard to perform.

The reactions of the Olympians said it all.

“That’s perfect… I can’t believe you got Alex the Astronaut. It’s going to be the only song I listen to while I skate now” – Poppy Olsen (Skateboarding)

“I have the biggest goosebumps. That’s a song I would add to my playlist in a heartbeat” – Steph Catley (Soccer)

“I’ll be on the start line alone, but I won’t feel alone” – Nic Beveridge (Para-Triathlon)

“So good. I will be blasting it in my ears… I can’t wait to use it at the Olympics” – Mack Horton (Swimming)

Will the music actually enhance performance at the Olympics? It worked in testing with results showing improvements in physical performance and neurological measurements in all three amateur athletes. We hope that this translates to medal-winning performances in Tokyo.