Spotify · Garmin · per song

BEATS PER MILE.

The music I play when I run, and whether its tempo shows in my legs

I matched my Spotify plays to every run on my Garmin since Dec 2017. A song counts as a running song when it plays in the middle of a run. Its pace, heart rate and cadence are the means of the watch's per-second readings while it played

As of 21 Aug 2026 Stale

Runs with music 612 54% of 1,132 runs
Songs on runs 7,684 plays of 30 s or more
Hours of music 592 played while running
Most-played running song Head & Heart (feat. MNEK) Joel Corry · 50 plays

Tempo vs Pace

Do faster songs make faster miles? I score each song with my average pace while it played. Then I group the songs by tempo. The correlation is r = 0.00 (n = 4,593). So tempo and pace do not move together in a clear direction

Mean pace by song tempo

Under 110bpm 8:27/mi753 songs
110 to 125bpm 8:23/mi1994 songs
125 to 140bpm 8:13/mi1458 songs
140 to 155bpm 8:24/mi115 songs
155 to 170bpm 8:29/mi52 songs
170 to 185bpm 8:26/mi213 songs
185+bpm 9:35/mi8 songs

The bars show the range between the band means. They do not start at zero

Every song, tempo against pace

6:10 7:46 9:23 10:59 12:36 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

x: song tempo, bpm · y: pace, min/mile, faster is higher · 2,207 of 4,593 songs. I plot an even sample and remove the outer 2% of values. The orange line is the band mean

Tempo vs Heart Rate

These are the same songs, against my average heart rate while each one played. The correlation is r = 0.01 (n = 4,604). Heart rate also goes up with distance and heat. The playlist does not change those

Mean heart rate by song tempo

Under 110bpm 153 bpm755 songs
110 to 125bpm 152 bpm1998 songs
125 to 140bpm 154 bpm1462 songs
140 to 155bpm 155 bpm115 songs
155 to 170bpm 152 bpm53 songs
170 to 185bpm 154 bpm213 songs
185+bpm 148 bpm8 songs

The bars show the range between the band means. They do not start at zero

Every song, tempo against heart rate

120 134 149 164 179 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

x: song tempo, bpm · y: heart rate, bpm · 2,210 of 4,604 songs. I plot an even sample and remove the outer 2% of values. The orange line is the band mean

Tempo vs Cadence

Song tempo and running cadence both count beats per minute. If I matched my steps to the beat, the dots would sit on a grey line. One line is one step per beat. The other line is two steps per beat, for slower songs. The correlation is r = -0.01 (n = 4,604)

Mean cadence by song tempo

Under 110bpm 157 spm755 songs
110 to 125bpm 157 spm1998 songs
125 to 140bpm 158 spm1462 songs
140 to 155bpm 159 spm115 songs
155 to 170bpm 156 spm53 songs
170 to 185bpm 157 spm213 songs
185+bpm 154 spm8 songs

The bars show the range between the band means. They do not start at zero

Every song, tempo against cadence

118 132 146 160 174 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 1 step per beat 2 steps per beat

x: song tempo, bpm · y: cadence, steps/min · 2,210 of 4,604 songs. I plot an even sample and remove the outer 2% of values. The orange line is the band mean

The Running Soundtrack

The songs, artists and genres I run to most, counted by plays and by minutes

Top songs by run plays

1 Head & Heart (feat. MNEK)Joel Corry 50 plays123 bpm
2 Hurt Somebody (With Julia Michaels) [Alex Adair Remix]Noah Kahan 45 plays120 bpm
3 Higher LoveKygo 44 plays104 bpm
4 Looking For MePaul Woolford 42 plays121 bpm
5 Tell It To My HeartMEDUZA 42 plays--
6 Wish You WellSigala 41 plays125 bpm
7 LonelyJoel Corry 41 plays124 bpm
8 Came Here for LoveSigala 41 plays125 bpm
9 All Cried Out (feat. Alex Newell) - Radio EditBlonde 40 plays122 bpm
10 LullabySigala 40 plays120 bpm
11 SummerCalvin Harris 37 plays128 bpm
12 Better Off Without You (feat. Shift K3Y)Becky Hill 37 plays124 bpm
13 This Is Real (ft. Ella Henderson)Jax Jones 37 plays122 bpm
14 PompeiiBastille 35 plays127 bpm
15 Juliet & RomeoMartin Solveig 35 plays122 bpm
16 Pump It UpEndor 35 plays--
17 PolaroidJonas Blue 34 plays114 bpm
18 One Night (feat. Raphaella)MK 34 plays124 bpm
19 Can't Hold Us (feat. Ray Dalton)Macklemore 33 plays146 bpm
20 So CloseNOTD 33 plays125 bpm
21 These Days (feat. Jess Glynne, Macklemore & Dan Caplen) - NEIKED RemixRudimental 33 plays184 bpm
22 Post Malone (feat. RANI)Sam Feldt 33 plays107 bpm
23 Faith (with Dolly Parton) [feat. Mr. Probz]Galantis 33 plays118 bpm
24 Don’t Need Love (with GRACEY)220 KID 33 plays124 bpm
25 Piece Of MeMK 32 plays122 bpm

Top songs by run minutes

1 Higher LoveKygo 348 min104 bpm
2 Hurt Somebody (With Julia Michaels) [Alex Adair Remix]Noah Kahan 310 min120 bpm
3 Hearts On Fire - John Gibbons RemixGavin James 218 min128 bpm
4 LullabySigala 212 min120 bpm
5 These Days (feat. Jess Glynne, Macklemore & Dan Caplen) - NEIKED RemixRudimental 211 min184 bpm
6 PompeiiBastille 205 min127 bpm
7 PolaroidJonas Blue 191 min114 bpm
8 Can't Hold Us (feat. Ray Dalton)Macklemore 188 min146 bpm
9 Looking For MePaul Woolford 184 min121 bpm
10 Came Here for LoveSigala 184 min125 bpm
11 Wish You WellSigala 178 min125 bpm
12 Better Off Without You (feat. Shift K3Y)Becky Hill 171 min124 bpm
13 Head & Heart (feat. MNEK)Joel Corry 167 min123 bpm
14 Dancer (Kygo Remix)Didrik Thulin 166 min120 bpm
15 SummerCalvin Harris 164 min128 bpm
16 LonelyJoel Corry 163 min124 bpm
17 Faith (with Dolly Parton) [feat. Mr. Probz]Galantis 162 min118 bpm
18 1999 - Alphalove RemixCharli xcx 159 min124 bpm
19 Coma - Late Nite EditLe Boom 156 min126 bpm
20 This Is Real (ft. Ella Henderson)Jax Jones 156 min122 bpm
21 Bruises - Steve Void RemixLewis Capaldi 150 min125 bpm
22 Wilder NightsBrunelle 144 min124 bpm
23 Billie (loving arms)Fred again.. 140 min--
24 Tell It To My HeartMEDUZA 140 min--
25 This LifeVampire Weekend 140 min170 bpm

Top artists by run plays

Calvin Harris 162
Sigala 160
Kygo 154
Avicii 150
Joel Corry 119
Sam Feldt 116
James Hype 98
Rudimental 93
Becky Hill 84
Bastille 83
MK 83
David Guetta 77
MEDUZA 72
Jax Jones 71
Sub Focus 64
Blinkie 61
ODESZA 59
Wilkinson 57
220 KID 55
Fred again.. 55
Rita Ora 55
Sebastian Ingrosso 54
Blonde 53
Gorgon City 50
Nathan Dawe 50

Genres while running

pop 3,036
electronic 1,101
hip-hop & rap 131
alternative 125
rock 78
r&b 40
folk & singer-songwriter 24
edm 22
soundtrack & theater 7
ambient & new-age 2

Seasons

The bars show all my listening for each of the last 24 months. The orange part of each bar is listening during runs. The season tiles count run plays only, because I fetched tempo and energy for running songs only

Run plays by season

Winter 122 bpm energy 0.77 · 1,822 plays Top songHead & Heart (feat. MNEK)Joel Corry
Spring 123 bpm energy 0.78 · 1,778 plays Top songPompeiiBastille
Summer 124 bpm energy 0.79 · 2,146 plays Top songLonelyJoel Corry
Autumn 124 bpm energy 0.80 · 1,938 plays Top songHurt Somebody (With Julia Michaels) [Alex Adair Remix]Noah Kahan

Listening minutes, last 24 months

Oct 20242,137
Nov 20241,397
Dec 20241,323
Jan 20252,403
Feb 20252,475
Mar 20252,245
Apr 20251,166
May 20252,467
Jun 20251,522
Jul 20251,999
Aug 20251,912
Sep 20251,597
Oct 20252,294
Nov 20251,545
Dec 2025932
Jan 20261,276
Feb 20261,623
Mar 2026633
Apr 2026915
May 20261,068
Jun 20261,162
Jul 2026856
Aug 2026578
Sep 20260

Grey is all listening. Orange is the part that played during a run

Weather

These tiles use run plays only. Each tile groups runs by feels-like temperature, rain or daylight. It shows the mean song tempo and energy, and the song I played most

Feels-like temperature

Under 45°F 121 bpm energy 0.76 · 837 plays Top songLooking For MePaul Woolford
45 to 55°F 124 bpm energy 0.79 · 2,613 plays Top songPompeiiBastille
55 to 65°F 124 bpm energy 0.79 · 3,246 plays Top songHurt Somebody (With Julia Michaels) [Alex Adair Remix]Noah Kahan
65 to 75°F 125 bpm energy 0.81 · 743 plays Top songHead & Heart (feat. MNEK)Joel Corry
75°F+ 123 bpm energy 0.75 · 210 plays Top songCan't Hold Us (feat. Ray Dalton)Macklemore

Dry or wet

Dry 123 bpm energy 0.79 · 7,123 plays Top songHead & Heart (feat. MNEK)Joel Corry
Wet 124 bpm energy 0.79 · 561 plays Top songLonelyJoel Corry

Daylight or dark

Daylight 124 bpm energy 0.79 · 6,679 plays Top songHead & Heart (feat. MNEK)Joel Corry
Dark 122 bpm energy 0.77 · 953 plays Top songThink About YouKygo

Method

  • The watch plays use the offline timestamps from Spotify, not the later sync time
  • A play counts only at 30 s or more. Podcasts and audiobooks do not count
  • Tempo and energy come from Soundcharts, which covers 59% of running songs
  • Pace, heart rate and cadence are the means of the GarminDB per-second records while each song played
  • Songs on runs start in Dec 2017, so earlier runs count as runs without music
  • "Dry" includes runs with no weather data