Class music need to knows for fitness instructors

When it comes to class music, there are few things every instructor needs to consider. Not only do you need think about the playlists that will complement your classes, but also the licensing around the types of music you use.

Industry go-to exercise music providers Pure Energy have rounded up everything you need to know to get your class music right and keep on the right side of music law.

Understanding Music Licensing

Music licensing within the fitness industry has undergone several changes within the past few years, and for some instructors, understanding which music can be used in which environments can seem a bit daunting. Before you start panicking or doing classes in silence, let’s break it down;

Original Artist Music

Original artist music is just that; songs featured on the albums are performed by the original singer or band, and it’s the track that your classes will be familiar with. Pure Energy’s albums such as ‘Step to the Future Volume 2‘ and ‘At The Movies‘ are original artist albums. Pure Energy’s Production Team take these songs and mix them to be suitable for the group exercise environment, maximising your musical fitness experience and making them user friendly for your session.

Wherever you use original artist music, you will need a PPL licence.

Where can you play it?

PPL-free Music

PPL-free music is music that can be played without having a PPL licence. It does not contain original artist music, but it also doesn’t lessen the class experience. Pure Energy’s Promix range contains “PPL-free’ music, which is created using the highest quality cover versions of tracks that your classes will know and love. Many of the Promix albums are tailored to your favourite discipline including: Step, HiT, Pilates, Spin, and Circuits.

Where can you play it?

Licence-free music

This type of music can be played in any fitness setting without the need for a PPL or PRS licence, such as Pure Energy’s Probeats Range.

Where can you play it?

Top tips

• You can mix and match between the music content you use to suit the environments you teach in, as well as your music licensing budget.
• If you are mixing and matching your music, keep a record in your diary of which classes you use original artist & PPL-free music for That way you will avoid going over the number of classes you have covered for.

Pleasing your class participants with music

Music selection for group exercise doesn’t just revolve around the discipline of exercise you are teaching. Another factor that should always be taken into consideration is your audience demographic. Age, gender, ethnicity, and social backgrounds, can all play a part in how your audience responds to your playlist.

As you are never 100% sure of who will attend on the day, it is your job to select music that appeal to wider audiences. There are things you can do to make this easier for yourself;

Keep it familiar

Even though you may have a few 20-somethings in your class, this doesn’t mean to say that they aren’t familiar with some of the greatest hits of the 60s,70s, & 80s! As many of these classic hits will have featured in films, adverts, and even modern day chart remixes!

Using recognisable classic tracks enables those who fall outside of the main class demographic to at least familiarise themselves with the tracks, and maybe even sing a long. Whereas choosing niche tracks that are only familiar to those who fall within a particular demographic, won’t please the wider audiences.

Think about the artists

Certain artists and bands over the years have managed to hit all generations, demographics, and even multiple nations. Using such artists tracks in your playlist is a good way to hit your wider audiences. Example artists being: Elvis, Michael Jackson, Bee Gees, Beatles, ABBA, Queen, Bon Jovi, Whitney Houston, Tina Turner, Diana Ross, and Madonna.

Theme of the week

The problem with creating a good playlist, is that your clients may only respond to it 2-3 times before they start getting bored of listening to the same music. Rotating playlists each week is good for you and good for your classes. For example, your month could look like this:

Week 1: Disco

Week 2: Movies

Week 3: Decades

Week 4: Soul and Motown

This sort of structure creates curiosity amongst the clients as to which songs will feature within each theme, as well as allowing you to determine what sort of music works for your demographics. What’s more, it will ultimately make your music last longer!

Use remixes!

Quality remixes are a good way of keeping the tracks upbeat enough for ETM, whilst engaging mixed demographics with familiar tracks.

Consider Pure Energy Music

Pure Energy is the leading music supplier selling 100% legally licensed content exclusively to the fitness industry. With a wealth of albums to suit all demographics and disciplines, you can easily identify the type of music by going to any music page on Pure Energy’s website.

If you need more help in selecting the right music for your classes, give the Pure Energy team a call during office hours on 01709 710022. Find out more about Pure Energy here.

This is a guest blog from Pure Energy. Guest blogs are written by our member organisations, suppliers and special guests and are not necessarily representative of the views and opinions of EMD UK.