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New music licensing scheme for fitness industry
Media release
7 April 2011
New music licensing scheme
for fitness industry
Operators of gyms and other fitness facilities now have new guidelines for playing music in their premises.
PPNZ Music Licensing and Fitness New Zealand have announced a new music licensing scheme which came into force this month.
PPNZ is the organisation that grants permission for recorded music to be played in public on behalf of recording artists and record labels.
The new scheme was negotiated after consultation with Fitness New Zealand, which began in April last year, and covers all recorded music played on premises.
PPNZ conducted research into music use in the New Zealand fitness industry before collecting feedback on a draft scheme towards the end of 2010.
The new scheme is based on actual club membership. Tariffs of 0.50c per member per annum are charged for gyms using background music only. The charge is 0.50c per member per annum for gyms using music in group fitness classes only. For clubs using both background music and music in group fitness classes, the charge is $1.00 per member per annum.
A three year phase-in period has been introduced, with 60 per cent of the annual licence fee payable in the first year, 80 per cent in the second year, and the full licence fee payable from year three onwards.
Previously the fitness industry held music licenses from PPNZ however these did not cover the use of music in group fitness classes.
The scheme also introduces a new fitness studio licence, a licence for independent trainers operating outside fitness centres and group licensing coverage through REPS (The Register of Exercise Professionals) for personal trainers running less than 3 classes per week.
PPNZ Managing Director Kristin Bowman says the new scheme represents a pragmatic approach to music licensing for the fitness industry in New Zealand.
“Both sides have worked together on this. Our joint objective has been to enable the best and most comprehensive repertoire of original music to be available to operators in the New Zealand fitness industry.
“We both recognise that PPNZ members need to recover royalties for the use of their music. With the support of Fitness New Zealand we have reached agreement on tariffs that reflect other current market rates for music royalties,” she says.
The new scheme also provides a new licensing administration process to be operated by Fitness New Zealand as PPNZ’s joint venture partner.
Fitness New Zealand CEO Richard Beddie says his industry is pleased with the result.
“We’re pleased to have been able to work closely with PPNZ to develop this new licensing model through an open and transparent process. The proposal bases the tariffs on a simple model of members and removes bands, which we believe strikes the right balance between simplicity and fairness,” he says.
The new scheme, with licensing activities administered by Fitness NZ, came into effect from 1 April 2011 and runs through to 31 March 2014.
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