In recent months, many fitness instructors have taken their classes online, delivering sessions on conferencing platforms such as Zoom, and also via Facebook Live.
However, many instructors are finding that their videos are being partially or entirely muted by Facebook. In more extreme circumstances, the videos are taken down from their social media accounts.
This is not only inconvenient, it’s jeopardising the businesses of fitness professionals if viewers have paid to be part of the class. Facebook’s recent introduction of Paid Online Events is giving fitness instructors a new way of delivering paid sessions online, so it’s more important than ever to make sure your session doesn’t get disrupted.
So why is your Facebook Live being muted? This article will help you understand why your workout music is causing this to happen and how you can prevent it in future sessions.
Why Does My Facebook Live Video Get Muted?
When you buy, download or stream a piece of music, that is called the primary exploitation of that music. It is for you to listen to and enjoy. The artist made it, the record label released it, the music publisher published it, you bought it.
Now we come to the bit that is more confusing… the secondary exploitation of music.
When a radio station plays any record they have to pay for the use. When a restaurant plays music while you are eating they have to pay for the use. If you see an advert on the TV with a classic track as the backing, the advertiser has to pay for the use. If a fitness professional plays music during their class (online or offline) they have to pay.
Why do I have to pay to use music?
Because you are using someone else’s music to enhance your ‘product’. Without it, your offering wouldn’t be as good, you need their music, so the artist wants their cut!
This is called the secondary exploitation of music. Why has this become increasingly important to artists and songwriters? Because it is increasingly difficult to make money via the primary exploitation route. Most of us now stream music and no longer buy physical (or digital) copies. So this is why copyright is protected and monetised online and through other channels, so artists and songwriters can ‘stay in business’.
Can I use copyrighted music for my Facebook Live? Am I covered by my PPL and PRS licence online?
By the letter of the law – no, we cannot advise you to use original artist music for online fitness classes. Even if PPL and PRS allowed it, Facebook and YouTube would have to switch off their algorithms that stops people exploiting music online.
Why won’t Facebook let me use copyrighted music?
Because fundamentally Facebook, and YouTube, are not music streaming services. Streaming services such as Spotify are set up to pay royalties to artists and labels for the exploitation of their music. However, you can only use Spotify for your personal use. You would require a different agreement to use it for a fitness class.
How can I avoid my being muted on Facebook Live?
The only way you can prevent your fitness class being muted by Facebook is to use music that has specifically been made for fitness instructors to use in online classes.
Pure Energy GO is a new range of fitness music, created by top producers and fitness professionals, which sounds as good as anything you would hear in the charts or on Spotify.
With over 50 albums in the range, Pure Energy GO covers all fitness disciplines, from Cardio workouts, to HiiT training, to downtempo Pilates and Yoga music.
Is there any way I can get around this?
So many ‘work arounds’ are suggested on social media… “If you only have 17 people in your class, you don’t save the session or you use Rooms you are free to use the music”… wrong!
You could have 1 person or 1000 people, it makes no difference, you may still get muted by Facebook.
Keep your online classes as professional as your face-to-face classes, use high quality licence free music. The Pure Energy GO range has been created specifically for your industry. With more than 50 releases in the catalogue, it covers every fitness discipline, music genre and BPM range.
