People come to your fitness center to push their bodies to the limit. Whether they are climbing your rock wall, jumping through an aerobics class, or sweating it out on machines, they are in your company in order to grow stronger, slimmer, and healthier.
An intense workout can leave your customers feeling exhilarated, and that could keep them coming back for more. Here's what you need to know to create and play the perfect workout playlists.
The Psychology of Workout Music
Music has the power to help your customers reach their goals.
According to research cited by The New York Times, researchers have proven that music can help people do more within a workout. In one study, researchers upped the tempo of the music by just 10%, and participants covered more miles on a stationary bike than they did while listening to slower music, and they enjoyed the faster music 36% more too.
Researchers also say that music can distract people from pain and fatigue, and it can reduce how hard you think you’re working out. When you’re listening to music, you’re slightly distracted and more likely to work hard without even realizing it. Music is so effective, in fact, that people say it’s a type of performance-enhancing drug.
While music can be very effective, the right playlist is critical. Research suggests that music can only make workouts more effective if people actually like it. If you don’t enjoy the songs you hear, you’re more likely to focus on your discomfort. Your workout will be less effective and a lot less enjoyable.
What Genre Should You Use?
It’s important to match the music you play to your customers’ expectations of a gym. That means it might be unusual for you to play songs in these genres even if those songs come with a quick tempo:
- Opera
- Classical music
- Nature sounds
- Folk music
- Traditional Native American music
Walk into any gym in America, and you are likely to hear modern music that has a fast pace and a deep reliance on percussion. EDM, pop, and rock dominate the genres played.
How Loud Should the Music Play?
Gyms also tend to be loud spaces, and it can be tempting to crank up the music to enhance the workout results. This is an especially common technique in shared fitness classes. As The Washington Post uncovered, some fitness instructors play music at 99 decibels, which is loud enough to damage human hearing.
It’s important to protect the health of your patrons, and that means ensuring the music isn’t loud enough to harm them. Talk to your staff about how loud they’re playing music, and set clear expectations about the upper and lower volume levels you will allow.
If you find that your instructors are pushing the volume to the limit, switching musical genres might be wise. Perhaps moving from pop to EDM would help give the class the punch the instructor is looking for without adding hearing loss to the menu of services you offer.
You may also have spaces in which your customers prefer to listen to their own music. As research from the journal Psychology of Popular Media Culture points out, people tend to enjoy music they play on personal players more than they enjoy the music they hear in public spaces.
If you have patrons that grunt or cheer or scream through their workouts. Headphones can protect your customers from those distractions, and if your overhead music is a little quieter, these customers won't need to play their headphones at an intensely high volume.
What About Tempo?
When it comes to choosing music for a gym or fitness center, tempo matters more than genre. According to research sponsored by the American Council on Exercise, cyclists moved faster to up-tempo music regardless of whether or not they knew or liked the music. They performed well while cycling to polka, for example.
This makes intuitive sense. When we hear music with a quick beat, we are motivated to tap our toes to the rhythm. The faster that beat, the faster the tap. Playing music that is speedy seems like a very efficient way to ensure that your customers get the sweaty workouts they want.
However, many workouts involve distinct phases, such as a warmup, full effort, and cool down. If you play songs of the same tempo through all of these phases, your clients may not get the experience they need.
How to Craft the Perfect Playlist
We’ve provided plenty of tips about what you should and should not do to share music in a gym. How can you put those tips to good use while you’re creating a playlist? The following tips may help.
Use these steps as you’re working on a playlist:
- Consider the setting. Are you creating a playlist that will sit in the background of a shared space, like a weight room? If so, modifying the tempo by workout stage is nearly impossible. You never know where people will be in their individual workouts. However, if you’re making a playlist for a specific class, ensure you’re using music to guide people through their workouts by starting and ending slow with fast beats in the middle.
- Listen to the lyrics. Sometimes, the words we hear alongside the beats can keep us moving when we’re tired and ready to go home. Before you put a song on rotation, listen to every word and ensure that your clients will feel inspired (and not offended).
- Update regularly. Don’t pick the same songs and just leave them there. Mix up the rotation regularly and ensure that your regular visitors aren’t bored by your choices.
Some music streaming companies have playlists that are designed for gyms with music that rotates regularly. If yours doesn’t, follow these tips.
Playlists
1. EDM: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1yRaJ9182k6l8JWvOBeWu7?si=VJHHKVVMS1yPfao1qh7mdQ
Song: Levels - Radio Edit
Artist(s): Avicii
Song: One More Time - Radio Edit
Artist(s): Daft Punk
Song: Angel on My Shoulder
Artist(s): Kaskade, Tamra Keenan
Song: Icarus
Artist(s): Madeon
Song: Control
Artist(s): Oliver
Song: Illmerica
Artist(s): Wolfgang Gartner
Song: Next Order
Artist(s): Dog Blood
Song: SeeSaw - Club Version
Artist(s): Jamie xx, Four Tet, Romy
Song: Language
Artist(s): Porter Robinson
Song: Take Me Home (feat. Bebe Rexha)
Artist(s): Cash Cash, Bebe Rexha
Song: Never Come Back
Artist(s): Caribou
2. Rock: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/08nQsKhBo1duMrXgOM87jB?si=d57LcOi2TjKzkSRibD4ldw
Song: (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - Mono Version
Artist(s): The Rolling Stones
Song: All Day and All of the Night
Artist(s): The Kinks
Song: Another One Bites The Dust - Remastered 2011
Artist(s): Queen
Song: Any Way You Want It
Artist(s): Journey
Song: Are You Gonna Go My Way
Artist(s): Lenny Kravitz
Song: Barracuda
Artist(s): Heart
Song: Born to Run
Artist(s): Bruce Springsteen
Song: Call Me
Artist(s): Blondie
Song: Danger Zone - From "Top Gun" Original Soundtrack
Artist(s): Kenny Loggins
Song: Hungry Like the Wolf - 2009 Remaster
Artist(s): Duran Duran
3. Pop: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6TCV9DBUtUmjFkDfEh7kqU?si=sRzoJoiCRN-r6liS3VP6GQ
Song: King
Artist(s): Years & Years
Song: Born To Be Yours
Artist(s): Kygo, Imagine Dragons
Song: Dreams
Artist(s): Alex Ross, Dakota, T-Pain
Song: Feels Like Home
Artist(s): Sigala, Fuse ODG, Sean Paul, Kent Jones
Song: Go With It (feat. Chromeo)
Artist(s): Oliver, Chromeo
Song: All This Time
Artist(s): Deorro
Song: Better With You - Kastra & twoDB Remix
Artist(s): 3LAU, Justin Caruso, Iselin, twoDB, Kastra
Song: Broken & Beautiful (from the movie UGLYDOLLS)
Artist(s): Kelly Clarkson
Song: Forever - VAVO Remix
Artist(s): Disco Fries, Maline, VAVO
Song: Million Things
Artist(s): GATTÜSO, Disco Killerz
4. Country Workout: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX5OrO2Jxuvdn
Artist: Morgan Wallen
Song: Wasted on You
Artist: Luke Combs
Song: When it Rains it Pours
Artist: Elle King
Song: Tulsa
Artist Jon Pardi
Song: Night Shift
Artist: Chris Stapeton
Song: Parachute
Artist: Lainey Wilson
Song: Hold My Halo
Artist: Cole Swindell
Song: She Had Me at Heads Carolina
Artist: Dierks Bentley
Song: Gold
Artist: Luke Bryan
Song: That’s My Kind of Night
Artist: Jon Pardi
Song: Dirt On My Boots
5. HIIT Workout https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3iYLIBDCbFk9JyIh8tfgeK
Artist: Sound of Legend
Song: Maniac
Artist: Sam Smith, Kim Petras
Song: Unholy
Artist: Imanbek, BYOR
Song: Belly Dancer
Artist: Gaullin, Julian Perretta
Song: Seven Nation Army
Artist: Marnick, Naeleck, VINAI
Song: Boyz in Paris
Artist: Alan Walker, Imanbek
Song: Sweet Dreams
Artist: The Good Song, Aramis
Song: 2 Much
Artist: Tiesto, Ava Max
Song: The Motto
Artist: David Guetta, Bene Rexha
Song: I’m Good
Artist: VIZE, Tom Gregory
Song: Never Let Me Down
6. Smooth Jazz Workout Music https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1E4mvVPMQYh48C
Artist: Thiago Sanchez Jazz Quartet
Song: Glorious Backdrops for Earthing Vibes
Artist: Funky DL
Song: Tell Me
Artist: The Lazy Bees
Song: Hot Summer
Artist: Bob Mete
Song: Cosmopolitans
Artist: Dea Sancta
Song: Higher and Higher
Artist: The Mellotones
Song: London Bridge
Artist: Jazz in the Kitchen
Song: Happy or Sad
Artist: J1gggs
Song: The Catmas Song
Artist: Hyper Creation
Song: Purple Interlude
Artist: New York Swing Lounge
Song: Popcorn
7. Latin Zumba https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2FVZpPvpqK2MH7Gg1vfKn6
Artist: Sebastian Yatra
Song: Vagabundo
Artist: Illegales
Song: Mucho Flow
Artist: JLUIS
Song: Rayos del Sol
Artist: Marshmello, Manuel Turizo
Song: El Merengue
Artist: NAVSRMI, Real Nam
Song: Papasito
Artist: Lola Indigo
Song: La Santa
Artist: JLUIS
Song: Beautiful Life
Artist: Anitta
Song: Funk Rave
Artist: SuperFitness
Song: A Un Paso De La Luna
Artist: Joey Montana
Song: Tus Mentiras
Paying for the Music You Play
As a fitness professional, you probably have your own media player stuffed with ideal workout tunes and playlists. When you run, stretch, or climb, these are the tunes you play to keep you motivated.
There are all sorts of business-grade stereo equipment components that can interact with a personal media player, and they can allow you to play your own music for all of the customers who visit you.
It is important to note, however, that playing music in this manner is likely to get you into very deep trouble with large companies who have access to many lawyers.
Recorded music of the type you have on your personal player is protected by national copyright laws. Those laws might apply to the composition of the piece, the recording of it, or both.
Streaming services often provide "business accounts," which might seem as though they protect you from these copyright laws. Those that sign up for a business account are, seemingly, allowed to play their music in the context of a business.
But according to the Climbing Business Journal, streaming services often have a small disclaimer, buried deep in the fine print, about businesses that charge admission. Your gym likely charges admission for your patrons. If so, these business accounts will not protect you. They are not made for businesses like yours.
Gyms that try to ignore the rules and play the music they want to play can come under the scrutiny of the companies that administer copyright. When that happens, conversations can be uncomfortable.
One gym owner took to a CrossFit message board to talk about the more than 10 notices he had received from ASCAP, asking for payment for the music he was playing within his gym. The organization was threatening a lawsuit if the man did not either stop playing music or start paying a copyright fee.
If you choose to work with the copyright holders and come into compliance, the process can be complicated. As the American Council on Exercise points out, fees to these organizations can vary, based on:
- The size of your gym.
- The number of members you have.
- The number of speakers you have in your gym.
- The types of activities you offer.
There are multiple organizations that administer copyright fees, and they all work in slightly different ways. To be in compliance and play any music you want to play will mean making a connection with all of these organizations and negotiating the fees separately with each one.
As you might imagine, this can be an incredibly time-consuming process. Once the fees have been negotiated, you will need to stay in touch with each agency. If you add space to your gym, change your offerings, add a speaker, or otherwise make an amendment that changes your agreement, you will need to renegotiate your fees.
Ignoring this issue is not wise. The copyright holders have the law on their side, and they can sue for damages.
We can help. At Pandora CloudCover, we have background music that is just right for common areas of your fitness center. We can help you understand what music might be right for your audience and where you can play our music, and we can help you get set up with our app, so you can connect to your speakers quickly and efficiently.
We have negotiated fees with all copyright holders, so you can play the music you want to play while staying in compliance with the law. We offer one reasonable fee, so you don't have to worry.
We would love to tell you more. Please contact us to find out more about our options for fitness centers just like yours.
Sources
Phys Ed: Does Music Make You Exercise Harder? (August 2010). The New York Times.
ACE-Sponsored Research: Exploring the Effects of Music on Exercise Intensity. American Council on Exercise.
If You Think the Music at Your Gym Is Too Loud, That's Because It Probably Is." (February 2015). The Washington Post.
The Role of Location in Everyday Experiences of Music. (2016). Psychology of Popular Media Culture.
Is Your Gym Guilty of Music Piracy? (November 2013). Climbing Business Journal.
ASCAP Emails About Music in My Gym. (March 2014). CrossFit.
Music Management: Effectively (and Legally) Unleash the Power of Music. American Council on Exercise.
Let’s Get Physical: The Psychology of Effective Workout Music. (March 2013). Scientific American.
The Influence of Music Preference on Exercise Responses and Performance: A Review. (June 2021). Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology.