News
Empowering women’s health with music
By Con Raso, managing director, Tuned Global
Music and movement are neurologically intertwined. Tempo influences pace, rhythm supports endurance, and familiar tracks can reduce perceived exertion.
Beyond physiology, music creates shared moments. It sets the atmosphere, builds anticipation and turns individual activity into collective experience.
For sports, wellness and fitness brands, this means music selection needs to align with brand values, customer experiences and emotional outcomes.
Well-chosen music increases workout intensity and duration, improves customer retention, strengthens brand recognition, creates community and cultural relevance, and opens new partnership models.
When delivered through properly licensed, data-informed systems, these outcomes become measurable and scalable.
Music also gives brands a way to stay culturally connected to their audience. The question for operators is how to use music strategically and legally.
This is especially important because the way brands approach music has changed significantly.
Early adoption in wellness, fitness and leisure centres often meant plugging in a Spotify playlist and hoping for the best.
Today’s leading sports and fitness innovators are far more sophisticated, curating music experiences that are brand-led, data-informed, tailored to specific audiences and workouts and fully licensed for commercial use.
This shift is being powered by specialist music technology platforms like Tuned Global, which works behind the scenes with brands to manage licensing, catalogue access, analytics and distribution at scale.
Rather than forcing sports brands to become music experts, these platforms allow them to offer legally compliant music in commercial environments, control curation across locations or content formats, and adapt music to different activities and intensities.
Through advanced APIs and centralised cloud infrastructure, operators can manage licensing, catalogue access and music governance at scale, while maintaining full creative control.
They also provide the reporting required by rights holders and integrate music into apps, devices, wearables and connected platforms. The result is music that feels intentional, on-brand and deeply embedded in the experience.
Music in action
Lululemon Studio and Mirror: At-home Fitness and Health
When Lululemon acquired Mirror, it marked a shift towards fully connected, at-home fitness where content, coaching and atmosphere converge.
Music plays a key role in making those workouts feel immersive and motivating, especially without a physical studio or shared space.
Instructors needed access to curated, commercially licensed music delivered consistently across live and on-demand workouts, while remaining compliant with music rights regulations.
Tuned Global provided Lululemon Studio with a branded playlisting app solution that enabled instructors to curate fully licensed music tailored to each workout.
Drawing from a licensed commercial catalogue and supported by usage reporting to rights holders, the system ensured compliance while giving instructors the flexibility to design high-energy, brand-aligned sessions.
The result was a seamless blend of movement, coaching and sound that makes digital workouts feel immersive and premium.
Psycle London: Performance Led Experiences
Con Raso
Boutique fitness studio Psycle London has built a loyal following by transforming workouts into performance-led experiences where music is central to the brand.
Each class is choreographed to sound, with instructors designing sessions that build emotional peaks and sustained intensity.
As Psycle expanded its digital and on-demand offering, it needed a way to give more than 70 instructors access to fully licensed commercial music while protecting the business from legal and reputational risk.
Tuned Global delivered a branded playlisting app that enabled Psycle’s instructors to search a cleared commercial catalogue by artist, genre or BPM, preview full tracks and build tailored playlists for classes ranging from high-intensity rides to strength and conditioning.
Behind the scenes, the music is delivered through secure API infrastructure integrated into Psycle’s own platform, with automated reporting to rights holders and support across label and publishing negotiations.
By combining creative flexibility with licensing governance, Psycle were able to scale its music-led experience across studio and digital environments without compromising on brand integrity, compliance or operational control.
Steezy: Movement and Music
Steezy, one of the world’s leading online dance platforms, sits at the intersection of sport, movement and music.
For dancers, music is not background sound. It defines timing, style and expression.
As Steezy scaled internationally, music became both its greatest asset and its biggest operational challenge. Delivering classes built around commercial tracks created both operational complexity and significant licensing risk.
Tuned Global provided the licensed music catalogue delivery infrastructure that enabled Steezy instructors to search a cleared catalogue, curate playlists tailored to specific classes, and prepare sessions using full commercial tracks.
The system ensured that music used across Steezy’s app and desktop platform was properly licensed and reported to rights holders, supporting global expansion without exposing the business or its creators to legal liability.
By combining instructor-friendly tooling with robust licensing governance, Steezy was able to continue growing its international dance community while keeping music at the centre of the experience.
A wider wellness ecosystem
For wellness, sports, fitness and leisure operators considering deeper music integration, a few principles stand out.
First, treat music as a product feature. It should support the outcome you want, whether that is higher intensity, calm recovery, emotional connection or brand recognition.
Second, get licensing right from day one. Using consumer streaming services in commercial environments exposes brands to legal and reputational risk.
For example, In 2019, more than 20 music publishing groups filed a $150 million copyright lawsuit against Peloton, alleging the company used more than 1000 unlicensed songs in its workout videos.
In another example, just last year the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia ordered a Sydney gym chain owner and five of his companies to pay more than $235,000 in damages and interest after operating multiple locations without a valid OneMusic licence.
Third, give creators freedom while maintaining brand control. Instructors, coaches and athletes bring personality, so give them tools to curate music safely within brand guidelines.
Last but not least, use data to refine the experience.
Track how music impacts engagement, completion rates and retention, because music is measurable. Finally, think cross-platform.
Your music strategy should work across physical venues, mobile apps, connected devices and on-demand content. Consistency builds trust.
What’s ahead for music as a performance tool
Music in wellness will become even more adaptive. As AI, biofeedback and real-time analytics become more embedded in fitness technology, music will increasingly respond dynamically to heart rate, pace or emotional state.
Early implementations in health and performance environments are already demonstrating how adaptive music can optimise outcomes.
As wearable technology and connected fitness continue to evolve, music will play an increasingly central role in shaping personalised experiences.
The infrastructure choices operators make now will determine how easily they can adopt these capabilities later. Those who invest early in licensed, data-informed music systems will be best placed to innovate without risk.
Music is a performance tool, a brand asset and a powerful lever for engagement. The examples above show that this applies at every scale, from a single boutique studio to a global combat sports brand.
The most successful innovators understand that when music and movement align, something special happens. With the right technology and licensing in place, that can scale.
About Con Raso, Managing Director of Tuned Global
Con Raso is an entrepreneur passionate about innovation, new technologies, and start-ups.
Over the last few decades he has focused on creating innovative mobile and online distribution models within the B2C entertainment market, enabling brands to utilise music as a marketing tool, via unique customer engagement strategies.
Being inherently well-versed in both technology and music, Con ensures our solutions are aesthetically pleasing, engaging and disruptive.
About Tuned Global
Tuned Global is the leading data-driven Cloud Music Platform that empowers businesses to integrate commercial music into their apps or launch complete streaming experiences using advanced APIs, real-time analytics, licensing solutions, music intelligence and customisable white-label apps.
Our turnkey solutions for music, audio, and video, coupled with a broad ecosystem of third-party music tech integrations, make us the most comprehensive platform for powering digital music projects.
We streamline complexities in licensing, rights management, content delivery and music discovery, enabling rapid innovation and bringing new ideas to life.
Since 2011, we’ve supported 40+ companies in 70+ countries — across telecom, fitness, media, aviation, and more — to deliver innovative music experiences faster and more cost-effectively.
For more information, visit www.tunedglobal.com.
Ovarian cancer cases are rising among younger adults in England, with bowel cancer showing a similar pattern, a new study suggests.
Researchers said excess weight is a key contributor, but is unlikely on its own to explain the pattern.
The authors wrote: “These patterns suggest that while similar risk factors across ages are likely, some cancers may have age-specific exposures, susceptibilities, or differences in screening and detection practices.”
They added: “Although overweight and obesity are linked to 10 of the 11 cancers evaluated and account for a substantial proportion of cancer cases, both BMI-attributable and BMI-non-attributable incidence rates have increased, though the latter more slowly, suggesting other contributors.”
The study analysed cancer incidence, meaning new diagnoses, in England between 2001 and 2019 across more than 20 cancer types, comparing adults aged 20 to 49 with those aged 50 and over.
Among younger women, cases of 16 out of 22 cancers increased significantly over the period, while among younger men, 11 out of 21 cancers increased significantly.
In particular, there was a significant rise in 11 cancers with known behavioural risk factors among adults under 50. These were thyroid, multiple myeloma, liver, kidney, gallbladder, bowel, pancreatic, endometrial, mouth, breast and ovarian cancers.
Rates of all 11 also rose significantly among adults aged 50 and over, with the notable exceptions of bowel and ovarian cancer.
Five cancers, endometrial, kidney, pancreatic, multiple myeloma and thyroid cancer, increased significantly faster in younger than in older women, while multiple myeloma increased faster in younger than in older men.
The researchers looked at established risk factors including smoking, alcohol intake, diet, physical inactivity and body mass index, a measure used to assess whether someone is underweight, a healthy weight, overweight or obese.
With the exception of mouth cancer, all 11 cancers were associated with obesity. Six, liver, bowel, mouth, pancreatic, kidney and ovarian, were also linked to smoking.
Four, liver, bowel, mouth and breast, were associated with alcohol intake. Three, bowel, breast and endometrial, were linked to physical inactivity, and one, bowel, was associated with dietary factors.
But apart from excess weight, trends in those risk factors over the past one to two decades were stable or improving among younger adults.
That suggests other factors may also play a part, including reproductive history, early-life or prenatal exposures, and changes in diagnosis and detection.
The study noted that red meat consumption fell among younger adults, while fibre intake remained stable or slightly improved in both sexes between 2009 and 2019, although more than 90 per cent of younger adults were still not eating enough fibre in 2018.
Established behavioural risk factors accounted for a substantial share of cancer cases.
Excess weight was the risk factor associated with most cancers in 2019, ranging from 5 per cent for ovarian cancer to 37 per cent for endometrial cancer.
The researchers said the findings were based on observational data, meaning the study could identify patterns but could not prove cause and effect.
They also noted there were no consistent long-term national data for several risk factors, that the analysis was limited to England rather than the UK, and that cancer remains far more common overall in older adults despite the rise in cases among younger people.
Early miscarriage care after a first loss could prevent about 10,000 pregnancy losses a year in the UK, according to a new study.
The study by Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research and Birmingham women’s hospital involving 406 women found a 4 per cent reduction in the risk of future miscarriage for women on the graded model of care compared with usual care.
Women in England, Wales and Northern Ireland currently become eligible for specialised NHS care for early baby loss only after they have had at least three miscarriages.
Tommy’s has called for women to become eligible after one miscarriage, saying this could reduce the risk of future miscarriages and improve health outcomes for mothers.
Researchers said that would translate to 10,075 fewer miscarriages a year across the UK.
Kath Abrahams, chief executive of Tommy’s, said women were being “left without early access to services that could help prevent future losses and reduce the debilitating feelings of isolation and hopelessness that we know affect so many who experience pregnancy loss”.
She said: “Our pilot study indicates that providing support after a first miscarriage, with escalating care after further losses, is not only effective but achievable without significant additional workload for NHS teams who are already working extremely hard to deliver good care.
“Put simply, it is the right thing to do. We will do all we can to drive that change across the UK so that more women and families are supported after every miscarriage.”
The graded model of miscarriage care proposed by Tommy’s is already available in Scotland, and the charity is calling for it to be introduced across the whole of the UK.
The graded model includes nurse-led support after one miscarriage, with advice on reducing risk factors such as low vitamin D, folic acid intake, alcohol consumption and caffeine use.
Women who received the specialised care were 47 per cent more likely to have a risk factor identified and receive relevant advice to help prevent future miscarriages than women receiving usual care, the study found.
Among women who had experienced two miscarriages and received the specialised care, one in five were found to have thyroid dysfunction or anaemia, both conditions that can affect pregnancy outcomes.
About one in four pregnancies ends in miscarriage, most often within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
The report comes ahead of the long-awaited final findings of the government’s investigation into maternity care in England. Interim findings uncovered a range of failures, including claims that NHS hospitals that caused harm to women and babies during childbirth often resorted to a “cover-up” of their mistakes, falsified medical records and denied bereaved parents answers.
Women’s health minister Gillian Merron said: “Pregnancy and baby loss can have a devastating impact on women and families, who too often feel they have been left without the care and support they need.
“I welcome the findings of this important report, and this will be carefully considered as part of our ongoing work to make sure women get the high-quality, compassionate NHS care they deserve.”
Indian pharmaceutical giant Sun Pharma has agreed to buy Organon for US$11.75bn in a deal aimed at expanding its women’s health and biosimilars business.
Organon, which was spun out of Merck in 2021, has built a portfolio of more than 70 women’s health and general medicines products, including biosimilars, sold in the US and about 140 other countries.
The acquisition would give Sun Pharma a broader presence in biosimilars, which are medicines designed to be highly similar to existing biological drugs, and strengthen its position in women’s health.
Dilip Shanghvi, executive chairman of Sun Pharma, said: “Organon’s portfolio, capabilities, and global reach are highly complementary to our own, and we believe that bringing the two organizations together can create a stronger and more diversified platform.”
The companies said the combined business would generate annual revenue of US$12.4bn, operate across 150 countries and rank among the top three companies globally in women’s health.
They also said it would become the seventh largest biosimilar player.
Sun Pharma said the deal would help grow its innovative medicines business and expand its biosimilars offering.
It added that the combined company would have 18 large markets each generating more than US$100m in revenue.
Organon’s largest markets include the US, Brazil, Canada, China and countries in the European Union. The company also has six manufacturing facilities across the EU and emerging markets.
The deal follows market speculation that began on 10 April, when Indian media reported that Sun Pharma had submitted an all-cash offer for Organon.
A later report said the offer had been revised to US$13bn. Sun Pharma shares rose about 7 per cent on India’s National Stock Exchange after the announcement.
Sun Pharma said it would acquire all of Organon’s issued and outstanding shares in cash, using a combination of available cash and committed bank financing. It also estimated synergies of about US$350m within two to four years of completion.
The company said the acquisition would strengthen its cash generation, with EBITDA and cash flow set to nearly double, supporting efforts to reduce the net debt to EBITDA ratio of 2.3 times resulting from the deal. EBITDA is a measure of operating performance before certain costs are deducted.
Organon reported revenue of US$6.2bn last year and adjusted EBITDA of US$1.9bn. It also reported debt of US$8.64bn, down from US$9.5bn when it separated from Merck, and a cash balance of US$574m.
In November, Organon announced plans to sell its JADA System, designed to control and treat abnormal postpartum uterine bleeding or haemorrhage, to Laborie Medical Technologies for up to US$465m. Net proceeds from the sale will contribute to Organon’s cash balance as of 31 March 2026.
Organon will merge with a subsidiary of Sun Pharma, with Organon surviving the merger. The boards of both companies have approved the transaction.
Carrie Cox, executive chair of Organon, said: “Following a comprehensive review of strategic alternatives, our Board determined that this all-cash transaction offers compelling and immediate value to Organon stockholders.”
The transaction is expected to close in early 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and Organon stockholder approval.
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