• Allison

Royalty Free Music: A Game Changer and Money Saver for Fitness Creators

When trying to set the mood, manipulate and increase motivation in your fitness video creations music can be of huge importance. Finding a reliable source of music for your videos that will not get them flagged or removed for copyright issues is even more important. Unless you own the music rights to use certain songs in your livestream or video on demand classes you can always be sure that you are going to need to pay for the privilege to use that music. Basically, if you are using your videos to provide an income or build a public community and interest for commercial use, you'll need to buy the rights to use that music to do so.

Do not, however, let the complications of music licensing deter you from your passions as a fitness content creator because there are many options for music to use in your videos that do not have to be complicated. Why go through the headache and nuances of music licensing and legalities when you could get all you need for your video creations from one spot.

That is the benefit of using royalty-free music. What is royalty-free music? Well, organizations like Sync Music Now that supply royalty-free music produce stock music libraries and licensing to a customer for a one-time synchronization fee versus paying each time they want to use a song in their videos. So if you are looking to create a number of videos and share them for commercial use, working with a royalty-free music provider is the most cost-effective and safest route to go to ensure you have both great fitness geared music and music that will not cause you to have the headache of video removal or copyright issues.

There are many ways someone could legally acquire rights to play music in-person and through virtual applications and depending on how you deliver that music to your classmates determines what type of license you'll require. When trying to purchase a license in the U.S. for in-person and livestream videos it's best to pay for a blanket license from at least one of the major performance rights organizations below.

- American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP)

- Broadcast music Inc. (BMI)

- SESAC Performing Rights

- Global Music Rights

It is important to note that if you are working for yourself, in a studio or online you will need to make sure you are in compliance and have coverage with and from the right organizations so your videos do not get flagged or your club finds itself in an unwanted situation. For an example: If you have a playlist with different songs from different artist's you will most likely need to purchase a blanket license from each organization as there are more than 60 global performance rights organizers and they do not work together collectively. Ensuring your at least covered through the top four above should help you cover your bases.

With live-streaming videos and in-person classes licensing from the performance rights organizers only covers your classes that are NOT recorded. Meaning you cannot record them and use them for future classes to showcase online. You would then need a different license to allow you to share those videos online. In-person classes and live-streaming classes are generally covered separately as well.

When trying to obtain a synchronization license you will have to negotiate directly with the rights holders which can sometimes include two or more parties. This is because a "song" is usually made of two parts: the composition and the original audio recording which are represented by the publisher and a record label. To get a hold of them directly you can start by contacting a media attorney but be prepared for some heavy royalty fees and advances.

Here are a list of the types of licensing you may need considering your situation:

To Play Music In a Physical Location: You will need to purchase a public performance license from the four major performance rights organizations (which generally includes an annual fee) or you can use royalty-free music.

To Use Music in a Video On Demand Class: You will have to purchase a synchronization license which is typically a negotiated rate with the record label and publisher charged per play and per song or you can use royalty-free music.

To Use Music in a Live-Stream Video: You will either have to purchase a public performance license and synchronization license or you can use royalty-free music.

To Use Music Commercially on Social Media: This is a little bit of a grey area and can be a little bit more difficult to follow the rules when it comes to legality. Typically a social media site would have to be responsible for acquiring the licenses for you, which generally does not happen and can turn out to be a pretty lengthy process. Your best bet would be to find and use royalty-free music so your videos and creations do not get flagged or taken down.

So, as you can see. There are many ways you can go about obtaining a music license for your fitness classes and videos. But at the end of the day, the easiest and most cost effective way to go about playing music without fear or headache of fees and copyright issues is to use royalty-free music from a licensed provider.