Muse and alphabeats partner to boost mental performance with music

Have you ever noticed how the right song can instantly change your mood? Whether it’s that bass-heavy EDM that helps you crush your resistance training, or that ethereal classical that readies you for some deep work or study, music has the power to get us to and keep us in the right state of mind. 

The effects are proven. Listening to music we love gets us in a more relaxed and focused state – what many call “the flow.” 

Now imagine if you could harness that power to not just feel better in the moment, but actually train your brain to feel that way at will, any time you want.

That’s what we’re bringing to the Muse community through an exciting new partnership with alphabeats, the leader in music-based mental performance training. This collaboration merges Muse’s expertise in brain-sensing technology with alphabeats’ mastery of training the mind with the music you love. 

Soon, you'll be able to use that very music to improve performance and focus, manage stress and sleep better. It isn’t just another meditation feature, it’s a complete mental training system whose effectiveness has been proven – in the lab and in the field – with professional athletes. And now it’s available to everyone in the Muse community. 

Read on to learn more about how this technology works, the science backing it and most importantly, how it can help you live your best life. 

What is alphabeats?

alphabeats has been hard at work transforming mental training for the last decade, but its story began even earlier. Philips, a world-leading health tech company based in the Netherlands, developed the technology in their research labs, as interest in consumer use of biofeedback and neurofeedback was emerging.

This isn’t just another wellness app. It’s built on serious scientific foundations. The technology has been rigorously tested, with multiple peer-reviewed papers by Tilburg University documenting its effectiveness. alphabeats took this rigor a step further by creating and working closely with a core of “pioneers” for the last number of years – a group that consists primarily of professional athletes and teams, as well as some CEOs, entrepreneurs and other high performers from various fields, who helped the company refine and perfect the user experience. 

At its core, alphabeats transforms everyday music into a sophisticated tool for training your mind. You know how a good DJ can read a crowd and use their musical selection to bring the energy of the dancefloor up or down? alphabeats does something similar. It actively adapts the sound based on your brainwave activity to encourage your mind to produce more alpha brainwaves, which are associated with that ideal relaxed but focused state of mind. But where the impact of a DJ might just be for the night, alphabeats’ impact is lasting. Even those who tried it once felt the positive impacts months after use. 

To unlock this powerful platform, all you have to do is choose your favorite genre of music from an extensive library (powered by Feed.fm) and alphabeats does the rest. You drop into an immersive training experience where music sessions alternate with cognitive games, progressively strengthening your mind.

By partnering with Muse, alphabeats is taking another step forward in making this technology accessible to everyone. You don’t need expensive equipment or lab professionals to get the benefits. You’ll be able to access these powerful training tools right through your own Muse device, at a fraction of the cost of traditional mental training programs. 

How it works

The beauty of alphabeats lies in its simplicity. Using it is as easy as listening to your favorite music and bringing your attention back to those tunes when it strays. Here’s how:

1. Choose your music. After you’ve put on your Muse headband and opened up the alphabeats app, you’ll get some prompts to ensure the sensors are picking up the signals. You’ll then begin the Foundations course, a series of 8-12 minute sessions that familiarize your brain with alphabeats and vice versa. Here you can choose from your favorite music genres, whether Country, Hip Hop, Classical Rock, etc., or other curations, such as by Decade. There is also a robust science-backed music section, which are curated around areas like Meditation, Relaxation, Focus and Sleep.
   
   
2. Connect and train. Your Muse headband monitors your brainwave activity in real time as you listen. This is where the magic happens, as the same brain-sensing technology that you’ve used to strengthen your meditation practice now connects directly to your music. Some sessions require your eyes to be open, others for your eyes to be closed.
   
   
3. Focus and grow. As your mind moves away from the alpha state, the music subtly, but perceptibly changes, prompting your attention – much like a meditation guide. For eyes open sessions, you’ll also get the visual feedback from the alpha pulse, which changes shape depending on your brainwave activity.

• To get the music and alpha pulse back to normal, you sharpen your focus using the technique that best works for you. For some, it’s tuning into a certain element of the music – the bass or drums for example. For others, you might choose to focus on your breath or other grounding element. 
• After the 8-12 minute session, next up is an engaging brain game, which is an important part of the experience and is proven to help with task switching and other cognitive skills.
• The combined experience is what creates this HIIT-like mental workout and a natural feedback loop that trains your mind to access and maintain its ideal state of calm but focused alertness, whenever you need it to. 
  
  

The science behind it 

When you experience alphabeats, you’ll see how intuitive and natural it feels. That’s the result of 10+ years of dedicated and serious scientific research and real-world validation. 

Researchers at Tilburg University have studied the core alphabeats technology extensively. They’ve published multiple peer-reviewed papers and continue to initiate new studies that validate both the technology’s effectiveness. Let’s look more closely at a few of those:

• Professional Soccer: Research published in Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback revealed that professional soccer players increased their ability to reach optimal mental states by 34%. 

• Professional Gymnasts: In a study published in the Journal of Sports Sciences, gymnasts who trained with alphabeats showed improvements in sleep quality, and mental and physical shape. More than 80% of the participants acknowledged its specific value for athletes. 

These results aren’t just confined to research settings. They are proven in the real world. alphabeats has gathered feedback and stories from numerous users who validate the impact alphabeats has on their ability to compete and recover better. Those users range from professional soccer, baseball and tennis players, to global champions in Taekwondo, kayaking, and speed skating, as well as business executives and high performers across all walks of life.

Muse has also dedicated itself to validating the impact of its proven neurofeedback technology in athletics. In a study with University of Toronto, research showed that just seven minutes of Muse use improved golf putting accuracy.

What’s exciting about all of these combined findings is knowing the impact this technology can have on people everywhere. These findings aren’t limited to professional athletes. Anyone can benefit from alphabeats’ proven ability to help you focus, perform and recover better. 

Why music works

So what is it about music that makes it the “special sauce” in alphabeats’ mind training equation? The answer lies in how our brains process it:

1. Natural engagement. Our brains are naturally wired to respond to music. Harvard's Patrick Whelan traces this trait back to our early ancestors' survival-based hearing skills (hearing the crescendo of a predator racing towards you, for example), which have evolved to make us uniquely receptive to music.
   
   
2. Neural activation. Music is one of just two activities (the other being social interaction) that activates nearly all brain regions at once. This strengthens networks controlling well-being, learning, and cognitive function – making music an ideal tool for brain training.
   
   
3. Neurochemical power. Music triggers the release of a slew of brain chemicals that drive engagement and motivation, including dopamine for reward and pleasure, cortisol for stress regulation, serotonin for immunity, and oxytocin for social connection.

alphabeats layers these natural properties of music with scientific know-how through its partnership with Feed.fm, the leader in curating music for wellness and performance outcomes. They also worked with Dr. Daniel Bowling, a neuroscientist from Stanford University, to ensure the wellness music stations are rooted in scientific principles.

Getting started: Special launch offers

We’re making it easier than ever to access these powerful new tools with special, limited time introductory pricing for both new and existing Muse users. 

New Users – Take advantage of our limited-time bundle offer of a Muse 2 device + annual alphabeats subscription for $199 USD (Regular price: $349 USD). 

Pre-order your Muse 2 bundle here.

Existing Users - Already part of the Muse community? Get access to the full alphabeats experience through an annual subscription at only $79 USD (Regular price:  $149 USD). No additional hardware is needed. 

Upgrade your Muse experience here.

Teams and Coaches - Looking to bring these tools to your organization? Contact alphabeats Team Sales to learn more about custom team packages, bulk pricing and dedicated support. 

Contact our Team Sales Department here 

Curious to learn more about alphabeats?

To follow the journey and dive deeper, check out these resources:

• Subscribe to the alphabeats newsletter for training tips and feature announcements
• Follow them on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
• Explore alphabeats' success stories at listenalphabeats.com
• Dig into the research behind the technology
• Watch tutorial videos on their YouTube channel

Note: All promotional prices are for a limited time only. Regular pricing will take effect after the promotional period ends.