The local association of record companies in Australia is threatening 3,000 per cent increases in fees for playing music in group exercise classes.

Fitness Australia is fighting back with the help of IHRSA and Fitness First Australia. Having pledged US$135,000, the organisations are now looking for Australian health clubs to match these funds in the fight to stop the record companies from implementing these proposed increases.

At issue is the way music is valued. The current Fitness Class Tariff in Australia, which is paid to the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia (PPCA), is AU$0.986 per class with an annual cap of AU$2,654.

The PPCA has been studying how music is valued and is suggesting that the proposed fee either be increased to AU$31.67 per class with no cap – an average increase of 3,172 per cent per club – or that clubs be charged a rate of AU$26.08 per member per month.

“Either scenario would devastate the industry, and has serious implications for clubs in other countries since PPCA sister organisations around the world may well decide to restructure their fees in a similar way,” says Joe Moore, president of IHRSA. “For the sake of the global industry, we need to stop this issue in Australia.”