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Written by Network and select guest authors, this blog is designed to keep you up to speed with everything fitness industry related. Contribute and help shape the industry.

Record industry tries to impose $100m tax on fitness

by Ryan Hogan | Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Fitness facilities around Australia are facing an unprecedented hike in the fees they pay for music – a huge increase of more than 4,000 per cent in many cases – if the Copyright Tribunal upholds a record industry claim to change the rate of music licence fees. If the record industry gets away with it, a typical fitness club with 1,300 members will be forced to pay $140,000 in annual fees, a massive increase on the $2,654 they currently pay. Many of these fitness centres are small owner-operators and this increase will have a disastrous impact on their businesses and on jobs – all because record industry bosses are looking for easy targets to plug the gap left by declining CD sales.

This is a huge issue which will affect every fitness professional in Australia; every single member of Network; you. Do not make the mistake of thinking that this will only affect group exercise classes. The proposed tax is indiscriminate – it will be imposed on every facility at a flat rate of $4.54 per club member, per month – regardless of whether the member attends classes or not.

Club owners will have to pass these costs on, or close shop if the fees are not viable. It is at times like this that we can take stock and appreciate exactly how everything in our industry is interrelated; group exercise is a great member attraction and retention tool for clubs, and most PTs source their clients from the existing membership of the club they work in. The new tax could change all this, creating a disastrous disappearing act for our industry.

Picture the scenario: The record industry wins its claim and fees increase exorbitantly; club owners’ financial resources disappear or music disappears from their facility; group exercise classes disappear from club timetables, and along with them go the jobs for instructors; members disappear from clubs; personal trainers’ client pools disappear. In an age of increasing obesity levels, this is a potentially devastating outcome for our industry, our members and the fitness of the nation.

It can be all too easy when hearing, or reading, about things like this to think that it will just ‘sort itself out’ and that everything will be fine. A short-sighted attitude like this is as good as arguing in favour of the record industry. The fact is, this is an enormous threat to Australia’s fitness industry. The industry body, Fitness Australia, is fighting the case in the courts, but as an industry we have to show our unity and genuine opposition to this unfairness by registering a protest at www.taxonfitness.org – NOW, and encourage your members, clients and participants to do the same.

Don’t think that you can’t make a difference; complacency will cost jobs, vast sums of money, and heartache for Australia’s thousands of fitness professionals. EVERY voice of support needs to be heard, otherwise it will be too late.

Fitness Australia needs financial contributions to fight this battle. To help, go to www.operationmusic.org.au and make a contribution to help win the case against the Record Companies! You can also download the full media release that Fitness Australia issued last week by clicking here.

We would like to know your thoughts on this very current topic. Do you think the record companies are entitled to more money? Tell us what YOU are doing to fight this fitness industry threat.

 

 

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