7 Great Apps to Soundtrack Your Run

Running is relaxing, fun, and great exercise. But when done over long distances, it can also be boring unless you have something great to listen to. I have a hard time running without music, and it has to be the right music for my mood at the moment. Some music, when it comes on at the right time, can give me a huge second wind of energy! Here are seven apps you can use to soundtrack your run with the perfect music!

1. Songza

I consider Songza the all-time playlist master. Their database of thousands of intricately-curated playlists is unmatched. Since they have great playlists for every situation you will ever find yourself in, they definitely have a huge selection of solid running playlists. All speeds, and all styles, you can browse their library to find the sound that best fits your running mood. Also, every playlist is over three hours long, meaning you can use a playlist multiple times without hearing much repeat!

2. Spotify Running

In the last few months, Spotify has been aggressively going after the running market, to the benefit of all of us! In the Spotify mobile app, there is now an option to jam out to Spotify Running. Here you can choose between genre-based playlists, original compositions of various styles, or even a ‘recommended for you’ option. Once you choose a playlist, the app detects your running speed and adjusts the music accordingly. The playlists also seamlessly fade songs into each other, preventing those awkward seconds of silence between songs where you are reminded how heavy you are breathing.

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3. Nike+ / Spotify Pace Stations

Another aspect of Spotify’s big running push has been teaming up with the Nike+ Running app. The app, which is a great way of measuring, mapping, and tracking your runs, is now fully integrated with Spotify’s full library. Now, while setting up for a run, you can pick out your music in Spotify and control the tunes from within the app. A great new feature is called Pace Stations, allowing you to create custom Genius-style playlists based on just an artist and a pace. Plug in a singer you like and how fast you plan on running, and you’re ready to go!

4. RockMyRun

RockMyRun has been around for a little while, but that doesn’t mean it’s not still cool! They offer mixes from professional DJs that you can sort by length, tempo, and genre before you get going. They even have playlists from well known names like Zedd, David Guetta, and Afrojack.

5. Spring

Spring combines a lot of great features allowing you to create playlists from their library of songs that work well for fitness, sort the type of music you like to hear with an easy-to-use slider system, and even hear music that is perfect for biking, walking, or other exercises. You can also set the music for interval training, so that it keeps up with your changes in pace. As a bonus, the app maps your runs, and adds landmarks for each song, helping you remember that cook track you heard at mile three.

6. SoundCloud

While Soundcloud doesn’t tailor its app towards runners, thousands of great musicians post great content on Soundcloud every day. The service has always attracted the electronic crowd, meaning there are definitely a huge number of great running mixes to motivate you up hills and over bridges.

7. TempoRun

TempoRun offers yet another take on tempo-sensing run apps, but does things a bit differently. When you start up TempoRun, the app automatically sorts your music library into levels of varying intensity from one to ten. Then, while you’re running, you can switch levels when you need an extra energy boost or are starting to cool down. This way, the tempo control is in your hands.