The MIC Coalition today announced that IHRSA, the Health & Fitness Association, a global community of industry leaders, is the latest member to join the coalition in support of transparency and balance in the music licensing industry. IHRSA and its members join a broad-based collection of businesses that provide music in retail establishments, live entertainment venues, hotels, restaurants, bars, wineries, and taverns throughout the country, as well as over the nation’s radio and television airwaves and Internet.
“Our members are small business owners who run clubs, gyms, studios, and other facilities in communities across the country, and music is an integral part of the fitness experience,” said Liz Clark, president & CEO of IHRSA. “It’s important for our members to have a seat at the table so we can celebrate and promote the fitness industry’s passion and creativity while ensuring songwriters are adequately paid for their work. Joining the MIC Coalition is an important step to make sure the health and fitness industry can work collaboratively with other music licensees to ensure our members can continue to play music while focusing on their core mission, making the world healthier through exercise.”
The MIC Coalition membership now includes 19 different associations that share the mission to create a more sustainable and transparent music licensing system to drive the future of music. The coalition’s top priority is creating a functional music marketplace that benefits consumers, creators, and the millions of MIC member businesses that regularly license musical works for purposes of public performance.
MIC Coalition members employ millions of workers in cities both large and small across America and pay the vast majority of the nearly $3 billion in annual licensing fees going to the nation’s performing rights organizations, which collect such payments on behalf of members of the songwriting community.
“Fitness instructors are much like the artists and DJs who create music that is foundational to the health and wellness experience. There is an art to what our members do,” continued Liz. “We are ready to work collaboratively and constructively to ensure that we come to a solution that recognizes the value, talent, and creativity of artists while protecting small, independently owned and operated businesses.”
The MIC Coalition serves as a go-to informational resource for the media, policymakers, music lovers, and creators who want to understand how changes to copyright and competition laws will impact the growing and vibrant digital music economy.