FAQ

No. We love Spotify, but the answer is no, you can’t. In fact none of the major music streaming apps is legal in a business/commercial setting. Read the Spotify Terms - "personal, non-commercial, entertainment use only." This means it can’t be played in public places such as gyms. The same applies to Apple Music, YouTube Music, and Amazon Music.

Rock My Fitness Class licenses all the necessary rights in order for our music to be played in a background manner at most businesses. However, fitness businesses must obtain additional licensing from the four PRO organizations (ASCAP, BMI, GMR, and SESAC) in order to legally publicly performance music in a gym or fitness studio. The music industry requires this extra licensing to compensate them more because they have determined that music used in fitness businesses is much more integral in producing revenue. As a part of our services, we will help you determine if your business needs to secure these licenses.

Music is copyrighted and protected by U.S. law. When an artist/composer writes a song, they have the right to control what happens to their original creation. Every time someone (or some company) wants to use music they need to ask for and get permission from the creator of the musical work to play that composition, and this results in a music license to use a composition. In addition to obtaining a license from the composer to play music you will need to obtain a license from the entity that owns the sound recording. Most artists contract with a record company, or music label (Universal, Sony, Warner), to record their song. The result of the studio recording of a song is called a Master recording. The label provides the technology and studio to record the musical work and usually pays to promote and distribute the sound recording and in exchange they get ownership of the Master recording. When a business plays a sound recording of the copyrighted Master recording the music label expects to be paid. The contractual permission to play compositions/songs and sound recordings are called licenses. The artists you know and love all want to be paid for their work!

Yes, each song has two different copyrights that each require a license. First, the sound recording which is what you normally think about when you listen to a song and second, the ‘music” meaning the underlying words and notes for each song generally referred to as a “composition”. This is the songwriter’s copyright. For the sound recordings, most users of music will approach the music label that recorded the master recording to obtain the proper license. For the song/music, most artists generally sign with an agent to represent them. These agents are referred to as Performing Rights Organizations (PROs) and in the United States there are 4 of them. They are ASCAP, BMI, GMR, and SEASAC.

Yes, the reason being is that Rock My Fitness Class, just like any other music services, uses a combination of music from all four licensors. Additionally, each song individually can have a percentage of the copyright be owned by multiple difference licensors. By securing licenses from all 4 music licensors you are ensuring that your business is fully copyright compliant regardless of which song is played.

Yes, as stated above, Rock My Fitness Class obtains the proper licensing for background music use by a business. For many retail businesses, restaurants, or office settings this may be all the licensing you need. However, the PROs do require an additional license to “Publicly Perform” music at a gym or fitness studio. The license is payment for using music in activities where it becomes much more integral in producing revenue. The cost of these licenses will depend on the size of your facility, the number of members, and whether of not you have group fitness classes. The cost will vary and the total cost of fitness licenses for all 4 PROs will generally cost between $1,000 - $2,000 per year.

We highly recommend you only use a music streaming service that is properly licensed for business and commercial use. Rock My Fitness Class is one of those streaming services that is properly licensed. In addition, you must also obtain fitness licenses from the 4 PROs in the United States.

Just like other consumer streaming services (Spotify, Apple, etc), downloads and CDs are for personal use only and cannot be used in a business. Business use of these products is strictly prohibited.

The licensing in foreign countries is similar to the United States, but you must interact with different organizations. Rock My Fitness Class is licensed in many foreign countries and we can help direct you.