Playing Music in a Home Gym: When TheMusicLicence Is Needed for Training Clients or Running Classes

Music is part of most home workouts, and for many people the playlist is the point. Once a home gym is used to coach clients or run classes, though, the rules for playing music change. In the UK, copyright in recorded music and songs is licensed collectively, and a single licence called TheMusicLicence is issued by PPL PRS. This guide summarises what GOV.UK and PPL PRS say about when it is needed, with particular attention to a home gym. It is general information, not legal advice, and any doubt about a specific set-up should be put to PPL PRS.

Music for your own workouts

PPL PRS says that purchasing music, whether on CD, record, tape or digitally, permits listening at home for personal use. Its help page explains that the licence is usually needed only where music is played outside the home as a public performance. Someone training alone in a home gym, with nobody else involved, is using music at home for personal purposes, which neither GOV.UK nor PPL PRS describes as needing a licence.

When GOV.UK says a licence is usually needed

GOV.UK says a person usually needs a licence if they play recorded music in public or at their business, including background music from a CD, radio or music channel. The licence is called TheMusicLicence, and GOV.UK says that playing live or recorded music in public without one is infringing copyright, for which a person could be sued for damages. The examples it lists include shops, offices and factories, hairdressers and beauty salons, sports grounds and other sporting facilities, and gyms and other health facilities. GOV.UK adds that no licence is needed to play royalty-free music, and that the cost depends on factors such as the venue and how the music is used.

What PPL PRS says about music in the workplace

PPL PRS’s help page says that music played outside a domestic environment is classed as a public performance, even if the music can only be heard by employees. It says that a business or organisation with employees, customers or visitors to the premises will usually need TheMusicLicence.

The same page describes a discretionary policy: PPL and PRS for Music do not apply a charge to homeworkers, meaning people within a private residence working on their own, or to workplaces with only one worker, where music is not made available to any visitors or customers coming onto the premises. Read literally, that policy covers a person working alone at home. It does not describe a home gym where clients attend, and a home gym that clients visit is a different situation from a home office. The guide to personal training from a home gym covers business rates, which turn on similar questions about how the space is used.

What applies to fitness classes and instructors

PPL PRS’s page for fitness, exercise and dance classes says that music is protected by copyright and that businesses and organisations must get permission from the music creators to play it in public. It says instructors and dance teachers who host classes in venues such as church halls or community centres need a music licence in place. The licence gives permission to use music from the PPL and PRS for Music repertoires through any device of the instructor’s choice. Its sector page says a person playing background music in a gym, in a cafe or reception area, or in classes, will usually need the licence.

The pricing on the classes page is illustrative and depends on the business. The page says fitness classes start from 95p a day, and gives an example of a fitness instructor holding three classes a week for 50 weeks of the year in a village hall, community centre or similar premises paying about £345 a year, or £2.30 a class, plus VAT. Prices can change, so a current quote should be obtained from PPL PRS.

Applying this to a home gym

• Training alone or with family at home. Personal use at home, as PPL PRS describes it, does not usually need a licence.
• A sole trader working alone at home who does not let clients in. The discretionary policy describes no charge for homeworkers working on their own where music is not made available to visitors or customers.
• Clients or class members attending the home gym. The sources describe a licence as usually needed where music is played for customers or visitors in a business. PPL PRS should be asked directly whether a private home used this way needs a licence. GOV.UK gives PPL PRS’s customer service as the route to check whether a licence is needed and to get a quote.

Using royalty-free music avoids the issue, because GOV.UK says no licence is needed for it. Other legal points arise when others use the space; the guides to occupiers’ liability and noise as a statutory nuisance are useful companions.

The bottom line

Playing music for your own workouts at home does not usually need a licence. Music played for customers or visitors in a business, including gyms, usually does, and GOV.UK says playing music in public without one infringes copyright. PPL PRS operates a discretionary no-charge policy for people working alone at home with no visitors, but a home gym used with clients falls outside that description. Anyone coaching clients at home should contact PPL PRS for a ruling and a quote, or use royalty-free music.

Sources

• GOV.UK, “Get a licence to play live or recorded music”
• PPL PRS, “PPL PRS Help”
• PPL PRS, “Fitness, Exercise and Dance Classes Music Licence”
• PPL PRS, “Fitness & Dance Music Licence”