Music licensing for Fitness
A gym, wellbeing studio, or a personal training business playing music is likely to need a licence.
Why do gyms and fitness instructors need a licence?
If you are playing music, it is highly likely you need a music licence. Permission to play music protected by copyright is a legal requirement in a business/commercial setting.
You can get permission by purchasing a blanket licence from OneMusic, giving you legal access to the majority of popular music worldwide.
Alternatively, you can:
- Ask the music creators for permission for each piece of music you play and pay them directly, one by one- a time consuming and nearly impossible task.
- Only play royalty-free music. It's often difficult to determine what music really is royalty free. It's not the safest option, and it's very limiting with what music you can play.
If you run a gym, a yoga, barre or Pilates studio, if you run training sessions (either indoors or outdoors like cross-fit), or you run functional fitness, HIIT, Les Mills, Zumba, circuit, CrossFit, martial arts, boxing or aquatic fitness classes or you run boot camps (and so on), and you use music - a OneMusic licence allows you do so legally.
Doesn't my streaming service subscription cover music in my gym or studio?
Subscribing to a music streaming service, paid subscription or free is not the same as having a music licence. Background music suppliers simply provide the music, but not the licence to play to the public. The streaming services most of us use every day is for our personal use. Take Spotify, for example, this is clearly stated in their Terms and Conditions:
Access to the Spotify Services
"Subject to your compliance with these Terms (including any other applicable terms and conditions), we grant to you limited, non-exclusive, revocable permission to make personal, non-commercial use of the Spotify Service and the Content (collectively, "Access"). This Access shall remain in effect unless and until terminated by you or Spotify. You agree that you will not redistribute or transfer the Spotify Service or the Content."
Play it public and you need to pay a licence fee or get permission another way. The basic rule is if you are playing music to the public (e.g. playing our music in your dance classes to students and/or to an audience at dance school events), music creators need to be paid public performance royalties - music licence fees.
The music creators require payment in exchange for their music being used commercially.
You have the right to play the majority of popular and well-recognised music from around the world when you have a OneMusic licence.
Music has value – it motivates client’s working out, having fun and also distracting keeping up to a beat.
What are royalties?
The money from music licence fees goes to music creators. These are called royalties. OneMusic keeps track of the music being played in a huge database drawn from radio and television stations, performance reports, streaming services, music recognition technology like Audoo and data from background music suppliers.
How is my music licence cost determined?
The cost of your licence will be based on amount of classes you offer annually and/or membership size and the music source or device used where applicable
What happens if I don't take out a licence?
Being without a licence is an infringement of copyright and can end in Court. Playing music for commercial use without permission can constitute an infringement of copyright which, if not rectified, may lead to legal action. A court proceeding may result in your business having to not only pay the licence fees due but other Damages and legal costs on top of that.
How do I know you're not a scam?
You can easily check if OneMusic is a scam. We understand that people need to be alert to online scams and do their research. Government websites can confirm our legitimacy:
- Australian Business Licence and Information Service (ABLIS)
- Australian Copyright Council
- ACCC website Scamwatch
- Service NSW
- Business Launchpad (QLD)
- Business Victoria
- Business Tasmania
- Small Business WA
Our Fitness, Health & Wellbeing community
OneMusic licensee Brickhouse Gym, Coorparoo QLD.
“Music licensing for me was an important decision, as I know quite a few musicians personally, and through family and friends. I'm passionate about supporting artists; my belief is all gyms and fitness facilities should have a licence to play music, so that this happens. I find it incredibly disappointing that some gyms don't do this.”
Limitless Performance Centre, West End QLD.
You can find more about OneMusic at:
- AUSactive
- Small Business Association of Australia
- Exercise and Sports Science Australia (ESSA)
- The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI)
- We were thrilled to sponsor and attend the 2023 National Sports & Physical Activity Convention and 2023 FILEX.
The OneMusic team has consistently demonstrated a high level of professionalism, responsiveness, and collaborative spirit that has made our partnership a true pleasure. OneMusic has shown a keen understanding of our organisation’s needs and has consistently delivered engaging content that has resonated with our members. We highly value our partnership with OneMusic and look forward to continuing our collaboration for many years to come.
Billie Cox, General Manager of Business Development, AUSactive
Fitness FAQs
Can we use Spotify within our business or do we need Soundtrack Your Brand?
Spotify is a domestic-use-only service and Soundtrack Your Brand is a business-use package - both contain works that require the OneMusic licence if used in a business.
What is the licence for parks and community centres?
OneMusic's fitness licence is a great solution for instructors who run classes in locations such as parks, halls and community centres. In most cases the licence is issued in accordance with the total annual classes forecast for the year ahead. Plus, there are some existing allowances when using council-owned facilities, so we encourage you to get in touch with us to discuss your specific requirements.
If you have a mix of clients, can a package be put together?
If you are operating under the same legal details, we can add all locations to the one account. If you are running separate businesses, they will all require their own accounts but can be managed through the same contact for ease.
Generally, we expect fixed business locations you work from will have a music licence. If you are providing your services in a client’s home and music is played there, a licence is not generally required.
What if my clients are wearing their own headphones?
A OneMusic licence covers all uses of music in your business, including when clients are enjoying your services while listening to music on their headphones.
Does having an all-inclusive licence allow instructors to use Spotify without a personal business account in classes?
Technically it does, because the all-inclusive licence includes the Digital Copy/Delivery component we usually need to apply when services like Spotify are used.
Do I need one licence per business? Or does one licence cover more than one premises?
OneMusic generally needs to issue a licence for each site you operate if you're using music from our collection (repertoire). The only variation on this might be if you are an instructor that doesn't have a fixed location and for these cases we can bundle your music use into a single licence.
Why would our licence be dependent on the number of members we have?
The number of members, or unique users of your service/tuition, is a variable that simply and easily determines the size/scale of each business and the value of our members' music to your operations - in a way that is fair for all.
Is the fee a one-off cost? Is that price per year or per month?
All fees for the fitness sector are for a 12-month period of the use of our music and include GST. They are fully tax deductible for your business. If your fees are more than $500 we will issue quarterly invoices.
As an instructor employed at a Health Club on their payroll what licence package covers me to instruct in more than one club?
If an instructor is working independently, in a non-fitness location (such as a hall), then it's the instructor's responsibility to take out a licence. However, if an instructor is putting on classes in an established fitness business/venue, then the licence should sit with the business.
How can I use music on social media, and is it covered by a OneMusic licence?
Personal/non-commercial use of music in social media videos is covered under our agreements with the social media platforms. Please refer to the music-use policy of the social platform in question for more information.
Non personal/commercial use of music in a social media or YouTube video will require direct permission from the rights holders of the songs in question. These are separate to the rights provided via a OneMusic licence. Please see our guide on synchronisation rights.
Handy tips for music and fitness
- How to increase loyalty and sales with the right fitness music
- Why music makes a difference when you exercise
- For references and further music tips, check out our resource Presto!
What fitness media say about music licensing
- Men’s Fitness Magazine - What music do rockstars run to?
- Studio Pilates - A guide to playing music in your pilates classes
- Gymnastics Australia - What is OneMusic?
- ABC Double J - Fighting for an income: Why gyms and other businesses need to pay for the music they use
- Music Rights Australia – Playing music in your fitness class fact sheet
Who is OneMusic?
The performing right organisations behind OneMusic have been licensing the use of music for almost 100 years. Launched in 2019, OneMusic is a joint initiative of APRA AMCOS and PPCA. In an effort to simplify the licensing process for customers, they created one licence to cover music use by songwriters, publishers, recording artists, record labels and composers.
Video resources
Have a query? We’re here to help.
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