Allianz Ireland and Spotify targeting road safety with personalised music playlists
IT'S IN ALL of our interests to keep Irish roads as safe as possible, and it turns out there's a small change you can make to help keep yourself safe while driving.
Allianz has partnered with streaming giant Spotify to produce 'Seat Belters', an in-app tool which will create personalised playlists for drivers based on their listening history. The purpose of these playlists is to curate a selection of your favourite down-tempo songs that can contribute to better driving.
Studies have shown that the music we listen to when driving can have an effect on many of our behaviours and faculties. Songs with over 120 beats per minute were found to have the worst impact on crucial decision-making competencies such as speed, alertness and reaction time. Indeed, one study shows that listening to high-tempo music while driving increased heart rate variability, mental workload, and produced more erratic driving patterns.
In short, the more beats per minute a song has, the riskier your driving.
It seems as though most adults in Ireland are aware that music impacts their driving. According to a nationally representative survey commissioned by Allianz Ireland in April 2025, over half of Irish adults believe that listening to music influences their driving. This survey also revealed that young drivers are the most likely to be streaming music while driving.
Seat Belters, therefore, is designed to filter out songs with such high beats per minute and instead put together a playlist for better driving.
This doesn't mean you'll be getting a random selection of someone else's favourite music, though. By partnering with one of the most trusted names in streaming, Allianz has ensured that your Seat Belters playlist will be tailored to your taste, using your own listening habits to build a set of songs that strike a balance between your usual rotation and road-safe bangers.
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Specifically, the tool will look for your most-played songs that fit into the 60-80pm range. The app can also study your past listening to let you know about your listening habits and tell you whether your listening habits are roadworthy.
To bring this science to life, Allianz has also launched Dashboard Drumming, a social video activation pairing legendary drummer Stewart Copeland (The Police) with science content creator Big Manny. In a parked car, they use nothing but a dashboard and a drumbeat to demonstrate how changing tempo affects mindset, mood, and ultimately driving behaviour — making BPM instantly relatable and shareable. It's a fun but powerful way to show how we respond to rhythm behind the wheel.
If you're curious about your Seat Belters safe driving playlist,
visit this link
or use the QR code below to access the tool through your Spotify app.
Mark Brennan, Chief Marketing Officer at Allianz Ireland, said: 'This initiative is about promoting a better driving experience by influencing driver behaviour through music. The music we listen to can significantly affect our mood and actions — so why not harness this to encourage better driving habits?
'We're thrilled to partner with Spotify on this groundbreaking international campaign, offering an in-app tool that is not only practical and enjoyable but also personalised, with the potential to reduce road accidents.'
Seat Belters marks an innovative partnership led by Allianz Ireland that will launch this month not only in Ireland but in the UK, Australia and Austria, and will be advertised to non-Premium users via the app itself.
Allianz Group is one of the world's leading insurance and financial services companies, with operations in numerous countries serving millions of customers globally. Allianz Insurance has operated in Ireland since 1902, serving more than 800,000 customers and employing over 700 people across the country.
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