For gyms and fitness studios
Your class playlist is licensed. Your class videos probably aren't.
Class clips, instructor reels and transformation videos are built on music. We check your studio's posts, your instructors' videos and your ads, and tell you exactly what to fix. Know every post is safe before your boss or a record label asks.
✓ No logins, just your handles✓ Results in 5 business days✓ Every flag confirmed by a person
Fitness runs on music, online and off
No category leans on music harder than fitness. Spin, HIIT, dance and barre classes are choreographed to it. Instructors build personal brands with clips of their best classes. Studios post transformation stories, class highlights and "come try us" videos. All of it is set to music, and usually the same high-energy hits people hear in class.
That's where a lot of studios get caught out. They pay for music licenses for their classes, so they assume they're covered. But a license to play music in the studio is a license for that room. It doesn't cover filming the class and posting it to TikTok or Instagram to promote the business. Online video is a separate use, called synchronization, and it generally needs permission from both the label that owns the recording and the publisher that owns the song.
The industry has seen this before
Music publishers sued Peloton in 2019, claiming its workout classes used well over a thousand songs without the right licenses. The case settled in 2020 with a partnership agreement. In 2021 Sony Music sued Gymshark, the fitness apparel brand, over hundreds of recordings in social videos, including influencer content; that case was later resolved too.
Peloton was about on-demand classes, not TikTok. Gymshark was about social posts, not studio classes. Put together, they describe exactly what a modern gym or studio does: film classes, post clips, work with fitness creators, and promote it all on social.
Where studios usually have exposure
- Class highlight clips with the class playlist playing.
- Instructor reels on the studio account, or instructors' own accounts promoting your classes.
- Promo videos and ads for new members, cut to a trending song.
- Fitness creator collaborations you invited in, comped or reposted.
- Franchise and multi-location accounts posting independently.
A boutique studio, three locations
Here's a common picture. A boutique cycling studio with three locations posts around 60 videos a month across Instagram and TikTok. About half are class highlights with the playlist audible. Instructors also post on their own accounts, and the studio reposts their best clips. Twice a quarter the studio boosts a class video for new-member offers.
The studio pays its in-class music license every month and believes it's covered. When we check, most of the class highlights carry major-label songs, several of them boosted as paid ads. The fix isn't to stop posting classes. It's to change what's audible in the videos you post: cleared music, original audio, or instructor voice-over.
What we check
Send us your studio handles, and any instructor accounts you repost. We check your posts from the last 90 days, creator and instructor videos promoting your studio, and any ads running in your name. For each video we identify the real song, including songs under "original sound", and whether your use is likely covered.
Every video comes back green (OK to run), yellow (check soon) or red (fix now), with a specific fix. A trained reviewer confirms every flag.
Instructors are your best marketers and your biggest gap
Instructors drive bookings. Members follow them, not the studio. So studios encourage instructors to post, repost their best clips and sometimes pay them for content. That's smart marketing, and it also means a big share of your promotional video is made by people who've never been told how music licensing works online. Most instructors genuinely believe that if the app offers a song, they're allowed to use it.
A short conversation fixes most of it. Instructors can still post on their personal accounts however they like. The rule only applies to videos that promote the studio, its classes or its offers, and to anything the studio reposts. Give them a list of cleared tracks or a fitness music service they can use, and the problem mostly takes care of itself.
Franchise and multi-location fitness brands have the same issue at a larger scale. A national franchise can have hundreds of location accounts posting class clips every week. One rule, shared with every location and checked regularly, is far cheaper than finding out from a letter.
How studios keep their content and lose the risk
Studios that stay clean usually do three things. They post class highlights with cleared music laid over, or with instructor voice and ambient sound instead of the playlist. They give instructors a short music rule for anything that promotes the studio. And they only boost videos whose audio they've checked.
The first check starts at $500 and is free if we find nothing to fix. If your feed is full of class clips, it's worth knowing what's audible in them.
Check your studio's content
Common questions
We pay for music licenses for our classes. Doesn't that cover social media?
No. Licenses for playing music in classes cover playing it in the studio. Posting a video of the class online with that song is a different use, and it needs its own permission.
Has a fitness company been sued over music?
Yes. Music publishers sued Peloton in 2019 over songs used in its classes without the right licenses; it settled in 2020. Sony sued the fitness apparel brand Gymshark in 2021 over recordings in social videos. Both are reminders that fitness content is music-heavy and watched.
Our instructors post on their own accounts. Is that our problem?
If they're promoting your studio, classes or brand, it can be, especially if you repost or boost their videos. Give instructors simple music rules.
What music can we safely use in class clips?
The Commercial Music Library on TikTok, the Sound Collection on Meta, a fitness music service licensed for social video, or original audio. Check the license covers online video, not just in-class play.
Is this legal advice?
No. We tell you what's in your content and how to fix it. For a specific claim, talk to a lawyer.
Related
General information, not legal advice. Platform rules and licenses change; check the current terms or ask your lawyer about your situation. Lawsuit figures are as reported and represent claims, not findings, unless noted.