Music in the Recreational Facility

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In the field of campus recreation there are many problems that rise up every day and most being dealt with easily, but there is a problem that many can not seem to finda resolution for. That problem is what to do about the music in the facility. “Research consistently finds that listening to music distracts athletes from their bodily awareness.”1 Music is a huge part of working out, and with such a wide range of music to choose from; its leaves the workers with the stress of finding music that everyone can agree upon.

There are several different applications in place that many recreational facilities use to help with the music problem. One such application is an intercom system hooked up to a computer. This allows the workers to be able to hand pick the free internet radio stations that would be played based upon what many people would request. This system is not a bad one due to the personability of the selection, but with free internet radio, the dependability of the selection is not very strong due to straying from music genre or lewdness of the music content. Another possible problem is that the gym could possibly get into legal troubles. “While you may be entitled to personal use of this music, according to U.S. Copyright Law playing music at your business is considered a “public performance” and requires a license from the copyright holder. The reasoning behind the license is that your business is benefiting from the performance of the music, and thus the artists should be fairly compensated.”2 Luckily a blanket license can be bought so you can continue to stream music to your patrons while compensating the artist who made the music.

Another option is to buy a music streaming system that has either preset music on it or a data bank of songs from which to draw from. Such systems are very good and popular for many reasons such as it takes the stress off the workers by not having to make everyone happy. With everything there are drawbacks as well, and one big one is that patrons will get tired of listening to the same music on a loop. Another way to help ease the stress of trying to make everyone happy is to check out headphones, and while that process may gain positive results it proves to be expensive and time costly.

When it comes to an individuals workout everyones is a little different in some way at least, and it is important to look at their music choice in the same diverse manner. Not everyone is going to agree on the music at all times, but by looking in to different options and getting feedback from your patrons you should be able to apeas most of the request.

1Grannell, Rachael. "7 Reasons You Should Listen To Music When You Work Out." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 1 Nov. 2013. Web. 20 Apr. 2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/01/why-exercise-workout-music-playlist_n_4173931.html>.

2"Is Your Gym Guilty of Music Piracy?" Is Your Gym Guilty of Music Piracy? Web. 20 Apr. 2015. <http://www.climbingbusinessjournal.com/is-your-gym-guilty-of-music-piracy/>.