
If you enjoy working out to music during group fitness classes, you may start to notice some changes over the coming months. Earlier this year, the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia (PPCA) won the right (in court) to increase its copyright fees for the use playing original artist music in group exercise classes. The previous fee that your gym forked out to conduct a fitness class was 96.8 cents, with a capped annual maximum charge of $2,654. The new PPCA license fee structure dictates that fitness facilities must now pay either $15 per class, or $1 per participant if there are less than 15 in attendance. A typical gym that runs around 30 classes a week will now have to pay over $23,000 a year, which is a whopping 1500% increase in costs. Some may argue that this fee is justified, but the fitness industry is obviously disappointed in such a dramatic price increase.
So what does this mean to everyday gym members?
In the middle of a global financial crisis, gyms are reluctant to increase your membership fees. The focus has turned to PPCA copyright free music, using songs by non-original artists. The music will still be set at the right beats per minute to exercise to, but will typically be a cover version. Some large gym chains have already committed to playing only PPCA free music.
Ultimately, these changes will impact people differently. Some might miss the motivation that comes from working out to their favourite song, while other may see the music as just background noise, and they will hardly notice any difference.
Do you enjoy exercising to music? Are you supportive of gyms playing PPCA music? Have the increase in copyright fees already impacted upon the music being played in your gym? Has the PPCA shot themselves in the foot?