5 October 2015, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: In order to encourage its members to lead healthier lifestyles and help curb obesity, the National Health Insurance Company – Daman is partnering with Sony Music Middle East to use the power of music to make physical activity more enjoyable, through a new mobile application.

Combining Sony Music’s experience in generating enthusiasm through music and Daman’s in depth knowledge of issues facing the health sector, this innovative collaboration aims to support the community in achieving their physical fitness goals. The app contains music overlaid with fitness instruction, allowing users to enjoy the latest hits and exercise tips, while they are training.

This partnership is part of a longer-term initiative to inspire and motivate people to overcome the barriers to exercise and increase the frequency of health-related activities such as, cycling, running or visiting the gym.

“Around the world and here in the UAE, increasing numbers of individuals are battling lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular conditions. Daman is leading the way through the use of the latest technology and platforms to provide innovative solutions to the community’s biggest health issues,” said Dr. Sven Rohte, Chief Commercial Officer, National Health Insurance Company Daman.

The ActiveBeats app is developed and published by Sony Music and is sponsored by Daman’s ActiveLife initiative which aims to motivate and assist our community to lead a healthier lifestyle.

Commenting on the partnership, Sony Music Entertainment Middle East’s General Manager Mike Fairburn said: “As a company committed to providing cutting edge digital music solutions, we are delighted to be launching ActiveBeats with Daman. Active Beats will be the region’s first branded music and fitness platform, allowing thousands the chance to create their own fitness routines specially designed around our world-class catalogue of local and international hits.”

The ActiveBeats app can be downloaded for free from the Apple App Store and the GooglePlay store for iOS and Android devices. Users need an activation code to access the music track packs.

Beginning this month, Daman is distributing 5,000 free activation codes to those who attend their sponsored events; StartYAS, TrainYAS and GoYAS every Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday at Yas Marina Circuit, and TrainDubai every Wednesday night at the Dubai Autodrome, with more codes to be distributed later this year.
Currently, ActiveBeats is the only music app with Arabic voice over and Arabic music, as well as English. Users can choose from dozens of songs from a variety of genres and three levels of workout intensity, with the length of each playlist related to the intensity. Users have the option of a virtual trainer in either Arabic or English voice over to guide them through the workout.

Phase II of the app will launch later this year bringing wider access to the latest hits, geotracking, exercise targets to encourage and motivate users, and more than 800,000 songs from the Sony catalogue.  More information on the second phase will be available then.