‘When I finish my classes, I feel sad’: anger builds over gyms swapping pop classics for cheap covers

By Emma Magnus•The Guardian Music

The fitness chain Better has replaced real musicians’ tracks with cover versions, causing dismay among punters and instructors who say the change is killing the energy“I want you to make me feel like I’m the only girl in the world.” The voice sounds like Rihanna, but it is thinner and less emotive, and the original song’s groove bassline has been replaced by a generic backbeat.This is a cover song produced by the Power Music app. Some gym-goers will never hear the real Rihanna, or any other well-known artist, again, because GLL – the social enterprise that owns and operates Better and its 250 leisure centres across England, Wales and Northern Ireland – decided to cancel its music licence and instead play royalty-free songs from the Power Music app from 1 March. Continue reading...

The fitness chain Better has replaced real musicians’ tracks with cover versions, causing dismay among punters and instructors who say the change is killing the energy

“I want you to make me feel like I’m the only girl in the world.” The voice sounds like Rihanna, but it is thinner and less emotive, and the original song’s groove bassline has been replaced by a generic backbeat.

This is a cover song produced by the Power Music app. Some gym-goers will never hear the real Rihanna, or any other well-known artist, again, because GLL – the social enterprise that owns and operates Better and its 250 leisure centres across England, Wales and Northern Ireland – decided to cancel its music licence and instead play royalty-free songs from the Power Music app from 1 March.

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