Jo Martin gives her views on whether royalty-free music is the future for our gym classes, and how new practices are making an impact on group X classes already.
We’ve all been there. You walk into a studio and suddenly the instructor turns up the volume, puts on the music and starts the workout. It’s familiar, you love the music and you love working out to it. You start singing along while step touching, squatting and kicking your way through the class. Yes, the power of good music can enhance your workout, make it more motivating and add that sparkle of magic to your session. You come out of that session feeling fantastic, and want to go back again and again!
And it’s the reason why members turn up every week to their favourite classes. The instructor is one reason, but the power of the music is the other.
However, it now seems that some gyms are changing their rules by ditching commercial royalty music and implementing royalty-free music only in the exercise studios, on the gym floor and in the reception area. The well-known music you love to workout to has been taken away. Forget jumping around to Lady GaGa, Bruno Mars or Rihanna in the studio. Instead, you get 45 minutes of unfamiliar music you’ve never heard of! Welcome to the world of royalty-free music.
What is royalty-free music? Simply put, it is a type of music licence that can be paid for just once (instead of again and again), and the music can then be used by the club for as long as they want it. There are no royalties that have to be paid, so for many gyms it’s a great way to save money. It skips out having to pay PPL and PRS music licences, which can be pricey for many gyms. But there is a downside – no singalong tracks, no music you’d have heard of!
Knowing the downsides of royalty-free music, why have some gyms made this change? Royalty-free music is plentiful. There are hundreds and hundreds of royalty-free tracks out there – a choice of different genres from pop to rock – and it’s a cost-effective solution which would save gyms a LOT of money. But a lot of it is very bland, unmotivating and not exciting to exercise to.
Royalty-free music is also used for many supermarkets, restaurants and shops as background music, which is great, BUT when it needs to be pumped up loudly at the forefront of a fitness class, that’s a different matter!
For some members and instructors, royalty-free music is no big deal (especially the ones who teach mind and body classes like yoga). They are happy to use any music, familiar or not. But for many it is a BIG problem!
Note: Did you know – even if a song is a cover, it is still NOT royalty free. It is just PPL free (but not PRS free). So PPL free and royalty free are two different things.
Some instructors are quitting
Unfortunately, many instructors refuse to use royalty-free music for their classes and have made a decision to quit. Alex Tang, a cycle instructor from London, is one of many. He told me, “Having enjoyed teaching group cycle for many years for a big health club, the final nail in the coffin was the withdrawal of the PRS/PPL music licence to cut running costs.
“This caused many disgruntled instructors and club members to leave, while the ones who stayed had to accept this enforced change on them with no prior consultation. Sadly, being forced to teach to unsuitable royalty-free music left me no choice but to quit doing something that had brought me so much joy and inspiration.” Alex Tang
There are many instructors like Alex, and the ones who have stayed put and accepted this change are also feeling the struggle. One of the issues is the added time it takes to plan a class, working with unfamiliar music. When you don’t know the songs or the tunes and you are trying to find suitable music, it can be like finding a ‘needle in a haystack’. So, instead of it taking 30 minutes to plan a class, it can now take triple that amount of time, so more time pressure on instructors.
Many instructors are keeping the same royalty-free playlists for many weeks, because of the hard work it takes to listen to the music and find new suitable tracks. This would make it even more mundane, hearing the same tracks over and over again every week!
Which classes have felt the change the most? Obviously, the music-led classes such as spin, dance and body conditioning all rely heavily on great music at their forefront and, for many teachers working in these disciplines, they’ve found their job a lot, lot harder.
One instructor from London, who has stayed put despite the change in her gym, told me, “Since the music rules changed, the atmosphere in the studio has noticeably declined. Members no longer recognise tracks they can connect with, making sessions feel more like a chore than an energising workout.
“Music is central to the experience – previously, instructors brought their unique style to classes, offering variety and choice. Now, with repetitive playlists across all sessions, both teaching and attending have become less engaging. It is a big shame that so many instructors feel like this, and it proves how important music is in a class.”
The power of music
From a mental health perspective, listening to familiar music can be hugely beneficial. Most of us can relate to feeling very uplifted after singing or dancing to our favourite well-known tracks – especially in a class. It gives our body a boost and makes us feel very good mentally.
Claudine Van De Vyver, a group fitness instructor and a psychotherapist, has seen first-hand the positive impact of music on mental health. She says, “Recent research showcased at The Science Museum in London1 highlights how powerful familiar music can be for our mental health. “When we hear songs we know and love, our brains light up in areas linked to pleasure, memory and emotion. This can lead to both immediate mood boosts and longer-lasting mental wellbeing.”
Claudine goes on to say, “Within my work, I invite clients to see how combining music with movement can enhance mental health benefits. This duo stimulates the vagus nerve, calming the body and reducing stress, anxiety and depression – helping shift people from a negative cycle into a more positive, healing one.”
So, what does the future hold for gym-based exercise to music classes? Will they change their mind and switch back to royalty music? Or will more gyms follow suit and introduce royalty-free music in their classes to save money? If the music licence costs keep rising, this may well be the case.
It’s hard to tell what will happen in the future. Perhaps more gyms will switch to holistic classes like yoga and Pilates, where music doesn’t need to be at the forefront of the class. The only thing we can do is watch this space. Only time will tell!
What has been your experience? Do you think royalty-free music will be the future of group X classes?
Read more on the FitPro blog on Are you legal? Know your music responsibilities
Try MyGroupFit app for original artist music albums with a 3 month free trial
Jo Martin
Jo Martin has been working as a group exercise instructor for over 20 years, and teaches at a variety of venues around London. From big gym chains and smaller boutique clubs, to corporate classes and community sessions, Jo has a wealth of experience in the industry. She is very passionate about playing AMAZING music in her classes, and is renowned for creating fantastic playlists that everyone knows and can sing along too while sweating it out!
Reference
1. https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/what-was-on/turn-it-up Accessed 3 June 2025.
