Do Gyms Need a Music Licence? PPL and IPRS Explained

Yes. If your gym plays recorded music to members, that is a public performance under India's Copyright Act, 1957, and a personal Spotify, YouTube Music or JioSaavn subscription does not cover it. A popular song carries two sets of rights: the composition and lyrics, licensed through IPRS, and the sound recording, licensed through PPL or RMPL. Most gyms therefore need to think about both, and the costs depend on your city and floor area.

This area has been unusually messy, with conflicting High Court judgments and a Supreme Court appeal still pending. Everything below reflects the position as of October 2026. Take a lawyer's view for your city before you sign or refuse a licence.

Why is one song two licences?

The Copyright Act gives separate rights to separate people:

• Musical and literary works (the tune and the lyrics). The owner has the right to perform the work in public or communicate it to the public. These usually belong to composers, lyricists and their music publishers.
• Sound recordings (the actual track). Under Section 14(e), the owner has the right to communicate the sound recording to the public. This usually belongs to the music label.

When your speaker plays a Bollywood track during a Zumba class, you are using both. Paying one body does not clear the other.

Who are IPRS, PPL and RMPL?

IPRS (The Indian Performing Right Society). The copyright office's list of registered copyright societies shows IPRS registered for musical works and literary works associated with them. It has been a registered society throughout the recent disputes.

RMPL (Recorded Music Performance Ltd). Listed on the same official page as a registered society for sound recording works.

PPL (Phonographic Performance Ltd). Represents a large catalogue of label-owned recordings. It lost its copyright society status after the 2012 amendment to the Act and operated as an owner and assignee for years. On 11 June 2026, the Registrar of Copyrights registered PPL as a copyright society for sound recordings under Section 33(3) (SpicyIP report). That means there are now two registered societies for sound recordings, and how they coexist is still being worked out.

What have the courts said?

This is the part most "do you need a PPL licence" blogs get wrong, because it changed several times.

1. Bombay High Court, January 2024. In suits brought by Novex and PPL against hotels and restaurants, a single judge held that copyright owners can grant licences themselves under Section 30 without registering as a copyright society (Mondaq summary).
2. Delhi High Court Division Bench, April 2025. In Azure Hospitality v. PPL, the bench took the opposite view: PPL could not issue licences for sound recordings assigned to it without either registering as a copyright society or joining one. As an interim arrangement, it told the restaurant chain to pay PPL at RMPL's tariff rates (LiveLaw).
3. Supreme Court, April and June 2025. On PPL's appeal, the Supreme Court stayed the payment direction, then clarified in June that the stay applies only to that suit and does not extend to third parties (Bar & Bench). The appeal is pending.
4. Delhi High Court, May 2025. In Al Hamd Tradenation v. PPL, a single judge granted a compulsory licence under Section 31, finding PPL's flat event fee unreasonable and pointing to RMPL's tariffs as a reasonable benchmark (Apar Law summary).
5. Delhi High Court, January 2026. In PPL v. Pass Code Hospitality, the court continued an interim ad hoc licence arrangement with deposits, and left open whether RMPL's rates or PPL's should finally apply (Indian Kanoon).

What this means for a gym owner: the legal question has shifted from "can PPL license at all?" to "which society, at what rate?". With PPL now registered, the old argument that it simply had no right to license sound recordings is much weaker going forward. Past claims are a separate fight.

What does a gym music licence cost?

Only quote rates you can see in a current published tariff, and confirm with the society before paying. Two published examples:

• IPRS. Its tariff scheme, placed for approval at its 2025 AGM, has a "Service Oriented Premises" tariff that names health clubs. Rates there are ₹10,000 a year up to 5,000 sq ft, ₹30,000 for 5,001 to 10,000 sq ft and ₹60,000 for 10,001 to 20,000 sq ft, plus GST. It excludes special-day events like New Year and Holi parties, which need a separate event licence.
• RMPL. Its public performance tariff has a separate "Gymnasiums" category priced by city tier, standalone or chain, and floor area. For a domestic standalone gym in a Tier-1 city, the table starts at ₹3,000 a year for up to 1,000 sq ft. Each display screen playing music videos is charged extra.

PPL publishes its own tariffs on its website. Ask for the gym category in writing, with the floor area basis.

A hypothetical budget

Say you run a 3,000 sq ft standalone gym in a metro and you decide to license both rights through the published tariffs above:

• IPRS (up to 5,000 sq ft): ₹10,000
• Sound recordings at the RMPL gym rate: ₹3,000 for the first 1,000 sq ft, plus the per sq ft rate on the remaining 2,000 sq ft as per the tariff table
• GST on top of both

Even with generous rounding, this is a five-figure annual cost, not lakhs, for a typical neighbourhood gym. Put it in your fixed costs and run it through the gym profit calculator. For the full picture of fixed costs, see gym monthly expenses.

Can you just use Spotify, YouTube or a phone playlist?

No. Spotify's terms grant "personal, non-commercial use", and its own help page on public or commercial use says you can't play it publicly from a business, listing dance studios and salons among the examples. Other consumer streaming apps have similar personal-use terms. Your subscription pays for your listening, not your members'.

Trainers playing their own phone playlist in a class does not change this. The gym is still the place of public performance.

What are your options?

1. License both rights. IPRS for compositions, plus PPL and/or RMPL for recordings, depending on whose catalogue you play. This is the straightforward route for most gyms that play popular Hindi and English music.
2. Use a licensed business music service. Some business music services say their playlists come with public performance rights. Read exactly which rights and territories are covered before you rely on it.
3. Play royalty-free or directly licensed music. Tracks where the creator has expressly allowed commercial use. Keep the licence terms on file.
4. Play no recorded music. Some strength gyms run silent floors or let members use headphones. Group classes usually need music, so this rarely works across the board.

The Act has a narrow exemption in Section 52(1)(za) for bona fide religious ceremonies, including marriage processions, and official government ceremonies. A gym's Diwali party is not one of them.

What happens if you ignore it?

The usual route is civil: a legal notice, then a suit asking for an injunction and damages. The courts above have also put businesses on interim arrangements that involve deposits. On top of that, Section 63 makes knowing infringement an offence, with imprisonment of six months to three years and a fine of ₹50,000 to ₹2 lakh. Even if a rights holder chooses the civil route, you do not want to be the test case.

If you get a notice, do not ignore it and do not pay on the spot. Ask for the repertoire they represent, the tariff, the period claimed and their authority, then take legal advice.

The short version

• Recorded music in a gym is a public performance. Personal streaming accounts do not cover it.
• One song, two rights: composition (IPRS) and sound recording (PPL, RMPL).
• PPL became a registered copyright society for sound recordings on 11 June 2026. RMPL is also registered.
• Courts have disagreed on licensing before that date; the Supreme Court appeal is pending.
• Published tariffs for a small gym run into thousands or low tens of thousands of rupees a year, not lakhs.
• Get every licence in writing with the floor area and period, and keep it at the front desk.
• Treat this as a fixed cost and check it against the other approvals in our gym licence checklist.

This is general information, not legal advice. Music licensing law in India moved several times between 2024 and 2026, so confirm the current position with a lawyer before you pay or refuse any licence. If you are still setting up, our guide on how to start a gym in India covers the rest of the paperwork.