Lovetuning Deepak

The ultimate grifter on the ultimate grift.

Facebook recently served me up another Deepak Chopra ad. This one caught my attention as it was even more ridiculous than the usual meditation app or, lately, psychedelics fare—Chopra has been promoting psychedelics for a long time, so his recent partnership with MindMed isn’t as opportunistic as other deals. 

The new deal with Lovetuner, a two-inch “flute” that apparently emits a frequency of 528hz, is another story.

The concept that 528hz resonates with a powerful frequency is not new. My musician friends have joked about this for decades, even changing songs to 528 in order to see if it would increase its chances of becoming a hit (it didn’t work) since 528hz is known as the “love frequency.”

Sound and music therapy are both important therapeutic modalities. The latter, for example, has shown incredible results in helping people deal with Parkinson’s and diseases of dementia. Music is an important component of hospice care. Research on binaural beats (there’s a whole category of 528hz binaural beats playlists) has found that it helps roughly half of those studied focus and reduce anxiety. I’m one of those people.

The Lovetuner is altogether different. According to the site, here are a few purported benefits of this $58 necklace:  

• Reduces stress

• Relieves anxiety

• Prevents burnout

• Strengthens your immune system

• Increases your lung volume (though no instruction on diaphragmatic muscle development is offered)

• Improves your health (not sure how)

• Find inner peace through repetitive breathing

• Arrive in the here and now

I’m not sure how you arrive at those latter two, and a few others as well, but the claims don’t end there. Others have stated that 528hz does the following: 

• Alters DNA (of which there is no proof)

• Good vibrations “phase-lock” with the heart of sunshine, chlorophyll, and oxygen at 528hz (might have stolen this from Zach Bush)

• Boosts human immunity 100% by enhancing antioxidant activity

• The same love energy generated Jesus’s healing miracles

• Protects the central nervous system of alcoholics by 20%. (This claim comes from a 2017 University of Tehran study in the Journal of Addiction Research & Therapy, a publication that features a “21-day rapid review process with international peer-review standards.” This study was accepted within two weeks—an absurdly fast acceptance for any credible study. The research was conducted on cell cultures, not humans—if you’re thinking about the “thoughts affect water” research, yes, it’s related. The conclusion of this paper, in its entirety: “The common wavelengths existing in the human environment aside from creating the psychological sense, by changing the intracellular reactions, will play an important role in the response of cells to environmental factors such as drugs and alcohol. Therefore, the use of these sound waves can be useful to reduce the toxic effects of ethanol on astrocytes cells culture.” Multiple red flags raised.) 

The Lovetuner was created by Austrian entrepreneur, Sigmar Berg, whose company is based in Malibu—because that’s exactly where such a company would find success with such a ridiculous bougie product. Berg’s other company produces high-end sunglasses that retail for around $300, as well as $2k leather jackets and $900 tote bags.

Berg’s mission statement for Lovetuner is as absurd as the medical claims.  

“When we talk about healing and spirituality and mastering our lives, it comes down to one thing: to become a Master, you have to first master yourself. On your journey to master your life, the Lovetuner is your secret key to unlock your full potential.”

According to Chopra’s endorsement, you can use the Lovetuner before, after, during, or instead of meditation. Basically: just buy it so he can make good on his endorsement fees. 

Tracking with Chopra’s recent talk with Sadhguru that we covered on Conspirituality, a March 2020 video on Lovetuner’s Instagram feed features Berg saying “there is no virus, the only virus to spread is love.” He then tells people to assemble in small and large groups to “tune together.” He also tells everyone to tune at 5:28 pm for ultimate frequencies, which is odd since he’s Austrian and that would be 17:28, but you don’t want to confuse the yogis in Malibu. 

The concept of 528hz is based on the Solfeggio, the basis of the Western notation system. As Michael Spitzer writes in his new book, The Musical Human, the Chinese scale system, based on bells and not strings, is far more advanced. In fact, many Westerners find Asian, Indian, and Middle Eastern music jarring because of their use of octaves that sit between the accepted frequencies in the pentatonic scale, which lead Spitzer to note that one vehicle for white supremacy throughout the centuries has been the West’s insistence that their notation system properly represents and defines music.

Music is a communication system, after all, and when you demand that “love” resonates in a system you’re familiar and comfortable with, you risk ostracizing others who see the world a bit differently than you. 

That’s too complex for a catchy advertising campaign, however. “Love frequency” is seductive and easy. If there’s anything I’ve learned about many American yogis, it’s that they need to think as little as possible about as much as possible.

Listen to this segment on Conspirituality 54.