Can instructors legally play Spotify in spin classes? (And what to use instead)

Playing a personal Spotify or Apple Music subscription in a paid spin class sits in a licensing grey area, because consumer streaming plans are licensed for personal listening, not public performance. Commercial class use generally needs public performance licences from performing rights organizations. siasola Cycling Beats avoids this with AI-generated original tracks that carry no such licensing complications.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Music licensing rules vary by country, venue, and how you run your classes. Confirm current requirements with the licensing bodies and your venue before you rely on any option below.

Does a personal Spotify subscription cover a spin class?

A personal Spotify or Apple Music subscription is licensed for your own private listening. The consumer terms of service for these services restrict playback to personal, non-commercial use, which means using them as the soundtrack for a paid class you teach falls outside what that subscription grants.

This surprises a lot of instructors, because the music plays fine and nothing stops you technically. The issue is not whether the app works. It is whether the licence attached to a consumer plan extends to a public, commercial setting. It generally does not.

Streaming services do offer business-tier products for commercial spaces, and some gyms cover music through a venue-wide arrangement. The point is that the ordinary personal plan on your phone is not built for class use, so relying on it puts the licensing burden somewhere it was not designed to sit.

What music licences does a spin class actually need?

In Canada, public performance of music is administered by two organizations that represent different rights holders. SOCAN collects on behalf of songwriters, composers, and publishers. Re:Sound collects on behalf of performers and record makers for the use of published sound recordings. A fitness class that plays recorded commercial music generally engages both sets of rights.

For fitness and exercise settings specifically, SOCAN administers a physical-exercise tariff (commonly referenced as Tariff 19) and Re:Sound administers a tariff for recorded music used to accompany physical activities (Tariff 6.B). Since 2019, a joint venture called Entandem handles licensing for both organizations through a single point of contact, which simplifies the paperwork for venues and instructors.

The exact requirements depend on your venue, your class format, and how many participants you teach. Fees and tariff structures change, so confirm current requirements with the licensing bodies and your venue rather than assuming a figure. The takeaway for instructors is simpler: playing licensed commercial recordings in a class is a public performance, and public performance is what these tariffs cover.

Music source options for instructors, compared

Here is how the common options line up for a paid class setting. This is a qualitative summary, not a substitute for confirming the details for your own situation.

The first row is where most instructors unknowingly sit. The last row is the reason a purpose-built app matters: if the music was generated as an original composition rather than drawn from a commercial catalogue, the public performance question that surrounds consumer streaming does not arise in the same way.

Why AI-generated original music removes the licensing question

siasola Cycling Beats takes a different route to the music problem. Instead of licensing existing songs or pulling from a commercial catalogue, the app uses AI to generate original tracks composed specifically for cycling at precise tempos. Because the tracks are original compositions rather than repurposed commercial recordings, the licensing complications that come with playing consumer streaming in a class setting do not apply.

That matters for an instructor for a practical reason. You get music built for the job, organized into five energy zones across a 60 to 160 BPM range, with real-time cadence sync and crossfade streaming so the tempo stays locked from warmup through intervals to cooldown. New tracks are added daily, so a class does not hear the same set week after week. The music is designed for cycling first, and the class-use question is handled by how the music is made.

It is worth being clear about the trade-off. AI-generated original music does not include the popular songs your riders already know by name. If a recognizable hit is central to your class experience, that is a genuine consideration. What you gain is BPM precision, seamless transitions, and a soundtrack that does not carry the commercial-catalogue licensing baggage.

What about instructors in the United States?

The structure is similar, with different organizations. In the US, public performance of songwriting and publishing rights is administered mainly by ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC. Many gyms and studios hold blanket licences through these organizations, which is why the venue, and not the individual instructor, is often the party that carries the licence. As in Canada, a personal consumer streaming subscription is licensed for private listening, not for use as the soundtrack of a paid class, so confirm how your venue is covered before you rely on your own account.

The short version

If you teach a paid spin class, treat a personal Spotify or Apple Music subscription as the wrong tool for the job, not because it fails to play, but because the licence behind it was written for private listening. Sort out public performance licensing with your venue and the relevant organizations, or use music that sidesteps the commercial-catalogue question entirely.

For the second path, Siasola Cycling Beats gives instructors AI-generated original tracks built for cadence, and our guide to the best indoor cycling music apps compares how the major options handle music and licensing. If you are still dialling in tempo for each interval, the cadence-to-music guide walks through matching BPM to effort.

This article is general information and not legal advice. Requirements vary by country, venue, and class format, and licensing rules change. Confirm current requirements with the licensing bodies and your venue before making decisions for your classes.