Note: This article provides general educational information about music licensing. It is not legal advice. For specific guidance on your situation, consult a qualified legal professional.
In 2021, Peloton settled music copyright lawsuits for approximately $75 million. The claims centred on the company's use of commercially licensed songs in recorded workout content — content that was being distributed to subscribers at scale without appropriate synchronisation and master recording rights.
For most independent spin instructor music copyright questions, the Peloton case is instructive but not directly applicable. The critical distinction is between live performance and recorded/digital content — and understanding this distinction answers most of the licensing questions instructors actually face.
Live In-Studio Classes: The Gym's Responsibility
When you teach a live spin class at a gym, fitness studio, or health club, the performance rights for the music you play are covered by the venue's blanket performance licence — typically from performing rights organisations (PROs) such as ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC in the United States, or their equivalents in other countries.
What blanket licences cover
- Live performance of commercially released music in the venue
- Playing music through speakers to an audience present in the physical space
- Streaming music services (Spotify, Apple Music) used for live in-room playback
If you're teaching live classes at a licensed venue, your primary responsibility is to confirm that the venue's licence is current and comprehensive. Most established gyms and fitness studios maintain appropriate coverage as a standard operating requirement.
If you run your own studio: The licensing obligation is yours, not an employer's. ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC each offer fitness industry blanket licences. The combined annual cost for a small studio is typically a few hundred dollars — modest compared to the liability exposure of operating without coverage.
Recorded and Digital Content: Where the Peloton Case Applies
This is where the landscape changes dramatically. If you record your spin classes — for YouTube, Instagram, a streaming service, an on-demand platform, or even internal archive distribution — the blanket performance licence does not protect you.
Recorded content requires rights that performance licences don't cover:
Rights required for recorded/digital content
- Synchronisation rights — to synchronise the musical composition with visual/audio content
- Mechanical rights — for reproduction of the composition
- Master recording rights — to use the specific recorded version of a song
The key exposure: Many instructors who would never dream of copyright infringement in their live classes post workout videos to Instagram or YouTube using commercially licensed tracks without realising this requires separate rights. Platform automated content ID systems (YouTube's Content ID, for example) will flag these — but the legal exposure exists regardless of whether the platform acts on it.
Practical Options for Recorded Content
Option 1: Music Licensing Platforms
Services like Musicbed, Artlist, and Epidemic Sound offer subscription licences for recorded fitness content. The music catalogues are not identical to commercial releases, but many platforms have improved significantly in quality and variety. For instructors building a digital content business, this is the most scalable approach.
Option 2: Royalty-Free Communities
Independent artist communities and royalty-free music platforms increasingly offer workout-appropriate tracks that can be licensed for digital use. Quality varies, but there are genuinely excellent tracks available in most BPM ranges and genres.
Option 3: Direct Artist Partnerships
Some independent instructors with established audiences have developed relationships with independent artists who allow their music to be used in exchange for promotion. This requires an existing audience but can produce genuinely distinctive playlists.
Find BPM-Matched Tracks for Every Phase
Whether you're building live class playlists or looking for licensable tracks for digital content, Song2Run helps you find music that matches your phase brief.
Try Song2Run