How use of a popular app left gym chain with $260k fee for playing unlicensed music
A gym chain owner was fined more than $250,000 for playing unlicensed music in gyms; The use of the popular app Shazam played a role in revealing the man’s “blatant” behavior.
Kieran Turner was chief executive of eight ‘S1’ gym companies in NSW and Victoria, including Bondi, Caringbah and Prahran.
According to the S1 website, by 2026 only the Coogee gym remains.
Mr Turner and five of his companies were ordered to pay more than $260,000 after Australia’s Federal Circuit and Family Court found he was playing unlicensed music in gyms.
Avid gym-goers were able to sweat it out in “SWEAT 1000” or “S1 Training” classes to popular songs like Vengaboys’ We Like to Party, Avicii’s Wake Me Up, AC/DC’s TNT and Ariana Grande’s Break Up With Your Girlfriend I’m Bored.
But the Federal Court heard that about a year after Mr Turner expanded his business from his first gym in Coogee, he came under attack from music regulator Australian Performing Rights Association Limited (APRA).
The regulator believed that APRA-protected musical works were being played on S1 companies without a licence.
Mr Turner was offered a license to play music by APRA as well as OneMusic, a joint licensing initiative launched by APRA to grant licences.
However, Mr Turner did not accept any offers, prompting APRA to launch an investigation.
The regulator has sent compliance officers to many gyms.
One of the officers, Mr Faccin, attended a fitness training class at S1 Caringbah gym on 12 November 2022. He used his phone to record the music and ran the Shazam app, which detects music titles, to keep track of the tracks played during the session.
A number of Calvin Harris songs were spotted by Mr. Faccin, including Feel So Close and The Girls, as well as 50 Cent’s If I Can’t.
The following year Mr Faccin attended a group fitness class at S1 Coogee and again used Shazam to record on his phone.
Fatboy Slim, New Order and EMF are among the artists Mr. Faccin recorded being played at the gym that day.
However, only a small selection of songs were pursued by APRA during the case, and Judge Nicholas Manousaridis was unable to find whether the bulk of the other songs fell within APRA’s licence.
It was determined that 25 works performed in sports halls belonged to APRA or were licensed.
“The music was performed at each S1 company, which held fitness classes attended by members of the public for a fee, and did so under the guidance of instructors associated with the relevant S1 company,” Judge Manousaridis found.
“In these circumstances the S1 companies infringed APRA’s copyright in respect of the musical works identified in column 1 of each of the tables in Schedule 1 at the S1 studio or on premises associated with the S1 company.”
Judge Manousaridis also found that Mr Turner was aware that music played on S1 premises required a license and that no such license had been granted.
The judge found that although Mr Turner had argued that it was the responsibility of individual trainers at each gym to issue licenses for music played in venues, he had ultimately “permitted breaches”.
“Given Mr. Turner’s position as sole director and CEO and his methods of managing the S1 companies and his knowledge that music was being played during every exercise session conducted at every S1 studio, Mr. Turner permitted or otherwise sanctioned, approved and supported every instructor at every S1 studio to play music on every occasion when an exercise session was conducted at that S1 studio,” Judge Manousaridis said.
The gyms were all ordered to pay damages totaling $86,550, with an additional $13,848 in interest calculated based on estimates of how much they would pay in licensing fees to APRA.
Mr. Turner was also ordered to pay $86,550 and an additional $75,000 to reflect each of the violations, bringing the tally of fines for Mr. Turner and his gyms to nearly $261,948.
In his ruling, Judge Manousaridis described Mr Turner’s actions as “flagrant”.
