Music plays an important role in the Sydney Swans’ pre-game preparations, whether it’s in the SCG change rooms or on the road on the way to an interstate match. It helps to motivate the players and gets them in the zone for the match ahead.
In what is a world-first initiative, Volkswagen has created Pump-Up Playlists, which allows fans to create personalised music playlists, which will then be loaded onto the players’ MP3 devices before the game each week.
The playlists will be refreshed each week so the boys get to sample the music of as many fans as possible.
Jude Bolton, who enjoys listening to the likes of Bloc Party, Rage Against the Machine, and the Hilltop Hoods before each game, has offered some advice for fans hoping to build a Volkswagen Pump-Up Playlist for their favourite Swans’ player.
“If people are looking for tips for their playlists, I think you need that natural build up,” Bolton said.
“We start listening to songs in the early morning before the game, so we need something fairly calm and casual initially, but then things really start to build up.
“Once we’re on the bus or once we’re in the rooms everyone is getting motivated and getting pumped up, so we need something to get us really firing later on.”
To dedicate a playlist to your favourite player or to create your own Volkswagen Pump-Up Playlist, head to www.volkswagenpumpup.com. On the website you can create your mix by simply searching for your favourite songs and dragging them into a playlist.
The website also allows you to browse and listen to the playlists created by other Swans’ fans and even listen to some Volkswagen Pump-Up Playlists which have been created by the likes of Bolton, Kurt Tippett, Shane Mumford, Lewis Jetta and John Longmire.
From AC/DC to Aerosmith and from Powderfinger to Pink, the Swans can’t wait to hear the playlists that you come up with. Head to the website and help pump up the Swans on the road to September.
About Volkswagen Pump-Up Playlists
The Volkswagen Pump-Up Playlists initiative uses an innovative web platform developed in Europe by Dragontape Ltd. The website uses YouTube’s API to source music and the website enables fans to search, select and drag music from YouTube into a playlist. Fans are able to create their own playlists, search playlists by other fans and see special playlists from Sydney Swans players.
How the music is listened to by Sydney Swans players
Every member of the Sydney Swans senior squad and rookie list is being provided access to an MP3 player and brand-new blue headphones.
Do all playlists on the website make it to the players?
Different playlists are populated onto the team's MP3 players on a weekly basis. Fans are able to dedicate playlists to a specific player if they wish. Not all playlists on the website are guaranteed to get to the players, but the playlists will be regularly refreshed enabling the players to sample the music from a huge number of fans.
