We’re already through January’s brief season of resolution delusion, so gym classes are returning to their more measured, year-round attendance equilibrium - made up from people who actually enjoy being there.

But despite this unwavering love for bending, stretching and gyrating together, all is not well on the local wellness scene.

Teachers are up in arms and threatening to leave, customers are signing petitions in their thousands, and the dehumanising impact of the corporate profit imperative is on display in all its bland inevitability.

I’d vaguely noted some disquiet at Triyoga Camden, (where I’ve been a regular for over two decades, as celebrate a year ago in this longer article last year), now part of the bigger Common Bond group.

Then, my beloved wife informed me that her equally beloved Kentish Town Sports Centre instructors were potentially scattering to pastures new, and an online petition was building momentum.

The issue in both spaces? Word coming down from on high that teacher’s own playlists would no longer be allowed to be used to soundtrack classes, with a ‘royalty-free’ platform being introduced instead, which they will have no option but to use.

My interest piqued, a few mins of online research revealed that this is quite the trend, with big chains like Virgin Active already having made the switch, despite equally vocal opposition from their customers and staff alike back in 2024. By not paying the required PRS licence - the fees that ideally help musicians earn money for public plays from their catalogue - the gym operators can save a decent wedge when multiplied across all their locations.

Now, I get that company penny pushers are solemnly bound to keep their spreadsheets looking as efficient as possible, but swapping out popular freerange playlists for sanctioned elevator interpretations doesn’t feel that great for business.

Not only is it unquestionably degrading the customer experience, it also seems to stick two-fingers up at real musicians as we tumble towards a dystopian AI-soundtracked future. But the truth is (thankfully) never quite that simple, so I went out seeking further opinion.

I spoke to one popular instructor at Better (operator of all Camden Council’s gyms) who - in a rather telling sign of the power structures at play - wished to remain anonymous.

“I mix all my own playlists, and would say that 40% of my time as an instructor is spent on planning the music,” she said. “It’s a huge, huge part of what I do, not an afterthought. What’s so frustrating is that they haven't interviewed any of us to ask what we think as instructors. Fitness has evolved so much, and that’s been driven by music. What they are suggesting is such a dated way of delivering a class. The music is like something out of an 80s aerobics movie. It’s got a pingy ‘Game Boy’ sound that’s actually quite shocking. It’s not going to motivate people in the same way, and I really don't want to teach the gym’s clients while forcing them to listen to that for an hour.”

Marcus Veda is one of London’s most in-demand yoga teachers, who I interviewed about the growing importance of decent music in classes exactly a decade ago, when exploring why so many professional DJs were becoming yoga instructors.

He’s developed the 4Beat style of yoga, a complete system based around syncing the breath to carefully designed mixes that are at the core of every movement, in every class. With the teachers he’s trained in 4Beat now being told that the yoga they’ve invested hundreds of hours of their time learning is essentially no longer permitted in certain studios, I knew he’d have plenty to say on the topic.

“The people making these decisions clearly don’t realise how integral the music is to what we are doing,” he said. “It’s not just any old beat in the background, it's inextricable from what is actually being taught. As we always say in our trainings, passion and authenticity are the most important things for a yoga teacher to have. If the studio is not supporting that authenticity, students will feel it, and eventually they’ll head off somewhere else where the creativity is not being curtailed.”

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Often, smaller public spaces such as hairdressers or corner shops hit with a PRS bill complain that they ‘just have the radio on’, and can only see the licence as another money grabbing tax.

But as a touring DJ and band member in his former incarnations, Marcus knows what it’s like on the other side of the coin - and yet he’s still not entirely convinced that the licence filters funds down to the musicians that need it most, making the studio bans all the more incongruous.

“When I make music, or anyone that I know does, we’d much rather have it have it heard by as many people as possible than have it silenced under a licencing system that’s not going pay us anything meaningful anyway.”

PRS relies on accurate data to collect and distribute royalties to the songwriters, composers, and publisher members it represents. While there is legitimate debate about how to ensure royalties reach the right people as efficiently as possible, their mission to seek remuneration for the use of musical creative output is a vital one, particularly in the face of gym operators who don’t seem to see the real, unquantifiable value these tracks bring to their studio offering.

“When we lose the music we know and love from gyms and studios, we lose more than background sound – we lose the thing that makes those spaces feel human,” said Gavin Larkins, Director of Commercial Development and Sales at PRS for Music when I reached out to them this week.

“Music sets the tone, shaping confidence and energy, motivating gym-goers to return while creating a positive environment for staff. It is no surprise that this has resonated so strongly, with thousands coming together to sign this petition: it’s a reminder that music matters.”

The current online petition, (which was set up in Hackney, but applies to Better/GLL’s sweeping policy proposal wherever they operate), also highlights how this directly discriminates against instructors who bring particularly musical styles, such as Soca or Afrobeat mixes, to their classes.

My Better insider agrees with Marcus, that niches of music have become central to the development of so many of today’s popular styles of class, so it seems scarcely believable that the gyms don’t appreciate the source of this evolution.

“My dad taught spin classes when I was growing up, and I remember it was so boring!” she laughed. “There was none of the flow and motivation from the soundtrack that you can get today. Relying on generic music just seems so dated, but then gyms also seem to want to make classes feel generic in the way they name them, too. There are masses of different styles that people seek out, and yet all it will say on the timetable is ‘dance fitness’. They don’t seem interested in what’s most attractive to potential customers.”

One year ago, as the Central YMCA was ruthlessly evicted from its historic West End home, Camdenist declared the gym as a cultural asset. With nightclubs and live music venues enduring their own challenges, fitness studios are one of the only remaining third spaces where all manner of people gather regularly to move to music together.

If we’re now stripping creative playlists out of those spaces, replaced by auto-mixed, no-name impersonations of popular sounds, the gym looses much of its cultural significance, and therefore its social impact. There’s even a rumour going around that AI instructors projected onto screens could be the next ‘innovation’, cost-cutting on the very need for any humans to lead the classes at all.

I’d like to say people won’t possibly stand for it, but as explored in the recent edition of Camdenist about fake videos, there’s a strange acquiescence towards once-scary AI that seems to set in rapidly if the experience is just about acceptable, and cheap.

“There’s a dumbing down in all this,” says Marcus. “Beginners trying out yoga used to be able to stumble upon an authentic class at their gym and that would be the gateway to discovering a whole new world. Now, if all those teachers have been forced into more authentic specialist studios only, newcomers might just get the impression yoga is a few stretching exercises and never get the chance to know better. It’s putting a barrier up.”

However, this is not an unavoidable process, if customers do indeed vote with their feet. My Better insider remembers it all happening when she was a member of The Gym Group pre-Covid, when beloved teachers upped sticks and left, memberships duly tanked, and ultimately their PRS licence was restored to prevent further damage.

As Gavin from the PRS told us, “we’re proud to have developed licences in partnership with the fitness sector so studios and instructors can use the music people want to move to, while ensuring the songwriters and composers behind these brilliant tracks are paid. We’ve seen venues move away from licensed music only to return, realising that popular tracks are far more engaging for both staff and customers. Our members’ music isn’t a luxury in a third space; it’s part of the value.”

If you’re a gym operator and would like to have your say on this issue, do get in touch. It’s obviously harder than ever to balance the books, but killing the music really doesn’t feel like the correct line on the spreadsheet to strike out.

Studios will only remain the kind of vibrant, creative spaces that draw customers back every week if teachers are allowed to express themselves fully once inside. Ignore that vital ingredient of the sweaty, interactive and, above all, human experience that you’re selling at your peril.

The Slomo tipi and pop-up wild spa, featuring various sauna and cold plunge experiences right in the middle of King’s Cross, runs for two more weeks, as the centrepiece of the area’s ongoing Equanimity Festival.

Among this week’s highlights are the soul-soothing sound baths streamed live from the Academy of Integrated Sonic Medicine each evening in the tipi, and Rob Da Bank’s gloriously restful lunchtime sleep training/nap sessions in the round under the canvas on Thursdays.

♨️ The latest permanent sauna facilities in the borough come from Lowlu, who have opened a collection of five swishly designed saunas and six plunges, each offering varying degrees of steamy heat or icy water. Sessions are affordably priced but can only be accessed via an app. You’ll find this Finnish-style oasis has transformed an odd little car park space the sits above the Thameslink line at Caversham Road in NW5.

🧘I’m not sure of their playlist policy, but London’s affordable yoga chain More Yoga have just opened a very bright and airy-looking 2-studio centre in the middle of Kentish Town. It doubles as their new teacher-training facility, so is clearly going to be a priority location for this fast-growing brand, and the introductory offers are pretty tasty if you sign up and try it out soon.

🏋️‍♀️Your first three sessions are free at Guardians Studios, which began life based at Parliament Hill Lido for nearly a decade, and has now moved to a unit at Hawley Wharf, facing Caversham Road and another deep inside the historic Camden Market Stables on Chalk Farm Rd. They’re big on personal and group training, Pilates, plus mother and baby post-natal sessions, from a growing team of top trainers.

STAGE: 🎭 Bird Grove is the latest Hampstead Theatre World Premiere from Fri 13th Feb. Set in the 1840s, Mary Ann Evans is of marriageable age - just - and her father, Robert, has recently moved with her to Bird Grove House, with the sole purpose of finding her a suitable husband through the local church. But Mary Ann’s remarkable intellect and growing self-confidence are forming progressive new ideas in her mind; ideas that challenge her father’s most strongly held beliefs. Runs to 21st Mar.

MUSIC: 🎛️ South African live house music heroes GoldFish play Chalk Farm’s iconic Roundhouse on Sat 7th Feb with a few remaining tickets up for grabs - if you’re quick.

COMEDY: 😂 Award-winning comedian Sarah Keyworth gently meanders through an evening of playful crowd work in new show Roll To Me, rolling at The Pleasance Theatre on Wed 11th Feb.

CLUB: 🪩 Daniel Sehnawi is a DJ/producer known for blending cultural influences with contemporary electronic music with a distinct fusion of minimal and deep house. He goes B2B all night long at The Cross this Sat 7th Feb with Rahbani, who brings influences ranging from the Arab world to Detroit’s underground to his own eclectic sets.

MAGAZINE: 📚 Brilliant little off-Camden dive bar Spiritual launch another edition of their Spirit(ed) magazine this Tues 10th Feb, which is also their regular weekly open mic night, so come along, sing up, and grab a copy.

MUSIC: 🎸 Memphis Tennessee’s breakout rock band Sleep Theory play the 02 Forum Kentish Town on the London leg of their first ever UK and European tour on Thurs 12th Feb.. The gig has moved up the road from KOKO to rock even bigger and even harder.

We’re building a network of likeminded free London newsletters, so why not try out No Skips if you like a bit of dancing…