BOSTON—October 18, 2018—The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) is pleased to announce the development of a special, discounted music license with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) for IHRSA members.
Since clubs are required by law to purchase a license that gives them permission to play music, IHRSA is pleased to work with ASCAP to negotiate a reduction in the licensing fee clubs need to pay for playing copyrighted music. As part of the new program, IHRSA member clubs will receive a 10% discount the first year they use their IHRSA member discount for the ASCAP Fitness License, and they will receive a 5% discount for every additional year following the first one.
An ASCAP music license allows businesses to legally, conveniently, and publicly play copyrighted music from its repertory of 11.5 million musical works without having to get permission from the individual songwriters. ASCAP negotiates music license agreements and distributes the fees they generate as royalties to their songwriter, composer, and publisher members when their songs are performed in public.
The ASCAP license is the second music licensing agreement IHRSA entered into on behalf of IHRSA member clubs. IHRSA also has an agreement with Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI), which holds the rights to millions of different musical works. IHRSA members receive a discount on a BMI Fitness License by licensing and paying fees online.
“In a club setting, music is a great motivational tool that club operators can use to get members excited to work out,” said Helen Durkin, IHRSA’s executive vice president of public policy. “With an ASCAP license, club operators only have to worry about the next song to put on their group exercise playlists.”
“Music is more than just an art form for music creators—it’s their livelihood. It’s how they put food on the table and send their kids to school,” said Stephanie Ruyle, ASCAP EVP of licensing. “We all recognize the importance of paying music creators to use their music and we are glad to work together with IHRSA to offer this special program. This gives club operators an attractive incentive to learn the benefits of having an ASCAP license and how easy it is to obtain one, while creating more opportunities for people to enjoy our members’ music.”
For more information on music licensing and additional group purchasing offers, visit the IHRSA website.
About IHRSA
IHRSA, the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association, is a not-for-profit trade association representing health and fitness facilities, gyms, spas, sports clubs, and suppliers worldwide. IHRSA and its members are dedicated to making the world healthier through regular exercise and activity promotion.
About ASCAP
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is a professional membership organization of songwriters, composers, and music publishers of every kind of music. ASCAP's mission is to license and promote the music of its members and foreign affiliates, obtain fair compensation for the public performance of their works and to distribute the royalties that it collects based upon those performances. ASCAP members write the world's best-loved music and ASCAP has pioneered the efficient licensing of that music to hundreds of thousands of enterprises who use it to add value to their business—from bars, restaurants and retail, to radio, TV and cable, to internet, mobile services and more. The ASCAP license offers an efficient solution for businesses to legally perform ASCAP music while respecting the right of songwriters and composers to be paid fairly. With more than 670,000 members representing more than 11.5 million copyrighted works, ASCAP is the worldwide leader in performance royalties, service, and advocacy for songwriters and composers, and the only American performing rights organization (PRO) owned and governed by its writer and publisher members. Learn more and stay in touch at the ASCAP site, on Twitter and Instagram @ASCAP and on Facebook.
