For many instructors and classes, music is an essential accompaniment to the physical experience that you offer, whether it's the bass running through their bones in bodypump, or the serene sounds of nature in their shavasana.

If you choose to play music as part of your experience then the law says that you must comply with the relevant music licensing laws.

As an activity provider it is your responsibility to ensure that your business has paid for the correct music licensing. You can find more info on music licensing for online fitness classes in the UK here https://pplprs.co.uk/online-fitness-classes/

It's likely that the music license fees that you need to pay will be different to what you've been paying to play tunes within a facility.

Move cannot accept any responsibility for this aspect of your business, but hopefully we can help make it simpler to understand!

Music licensing was created to ensure that the owners of copyrighted content are compensated fairly for the use of their material in other forms of creative expression. When you purchase music, such as a Spotify subscription or on iTunes, you are purchasing a private license, which allows you to use the track for personal use only.

To play music in a public space you may need to purchase a public performance license. The reasoning behind this is that if your business is benefitting from the music you are playing, then the copyright owners should be fairly compensated for its use.

You can find out more from the music licensing bodies in the UK with the link below to the UK Government resource for businesses:

Search online and you'll find that there are many sites out there who offer royalty free music. If you haven't checked any out yet then do, the quality is not to be scoffed at!

Here's an example of a site that we've used for tracks here at Move in the past.

When live streaming you have the benefit of muting your customers and allowing them to play their own music. Why not try advising them of the sort of music that may suit your class and advising them to play it at the same time?

You can include a basic music accompaniment to a class in your activity description when setting up your activity.

If you're playing music over live stream classes and are using Zoom, then see our guide on how to play music over Zoom to make sure that sound quality is awesome for your customers!

If you have any feedback or ideas on how we can help you more then please get in touch, we're here to support your business in any way we can.