The stuff instructors complain about, answered.
What instructors and gym owners like and dislike about workout music streaming, from crashes to fixed BPMs, and how Fitness Radio handles each. Updated October 26, 2026.
What people dislike about workout music apps
My music app stops or crashes in the middle of class. How do I avoid that?
It's the most common complaint in workout-music app reviews: playback stopping when the phone screen sleeps, random stops, and crashes that need a restart. Any app can have a bad release, so test before you teach: run a full playlist on the exact phone or tablet and speaker you use in class, with the screen locked.
Fitness Radio offers a free trial so you can do exactly that on your own setup before you pay.
The “clean” setting still let an explicit song through. Is there a better way?
Reviewers of some apps report songs getting through despite a clean-mixes setting. On Fitness Radio's radio stations, any track flagged for cuss words never plays. Those tracks stay in the library, so instructors who want them can still choose them for their own playlists.
I'm tired of teaching to a BPM somebody else picked. Can I set my own?
Yes, on Fitness Radio Premium Pulse and Studio Suite. You choose the tempo and tracks are time-stretched to it, so you can run a favorite song at 126 for kickboxing or 128 for toning. Standard Beat plays music at its set tempos.
There's a gap between every song and my class loses the count.
Gaps come from silence in the files, players that stop and restart between tracks, or slow buffering. Fitness Radio has gapless playback on every plan, and phrased tracks end on a full 32 so the next song starts on 1. See why gapless matters.
Spotify hides the song timer and I keep hitting skip by accident.
Instructors on the Spotify Community forum have raised exactly this. With 32-count phrased music, every phrase is the same length at a given tempo (15 seconds at 128 BPM), so you can cue from the music instead of a timer. Also note that Spotify's moderators say personal accounts are for personal use, not gyms.
Fitness music all sounds the same, like it was rebuilt to one standard beat.
Some instructors say that about catalog fitness music. Fitness Radio's library has more than 59,000 tracks going back to the 1960s, both phrased and regular, plus Daily Mixes, DJ-curated playlists and 60-minute DJ mixes you can mix, match and re-tempo.
I got charged after I thought I'd cancelled. How does cancelling work?
Subscription confusion is a common complaint across fitness apps. With Fitness Radio you can cancel any time from your account settings, with no cancellation fee. Your access continues to the end of the period you already paid for. Card details are held by the payment processor, not stored on Fitness Radio's servers.
32-count phrasing and tempo
What is 32-count music?
Music arranged in phrases of 32 counts, four 8-counts or eight bars of 4, so choreography starts and ends where the song changes. The count starts at the song's first downbeat. Full explanation: What is 32-count music?
What BPM should I use for my class?
ACSM's ranges include step 118–128, kickboxing 126–136, low-impact 120–140 and high-impact 135–155 BPM. See the full BPM chart with notes from ACE.
Is every track on Fitness Radio phrased?
No. The library includes both 32-count phrased tracks and regular tracks. Premium Pulse includes 32-count downbeat detection for building phrased playlists; Standard Beat can play music that is already phrased.
Does changing the tempo make songs sound sped up?
Fitness Radio changes tempo by time-stretching, which changes speed without shifting the key the way speeding up a record does. BPM and pitch control are on Premium Pulse and up.
For gyms and studios
What's the easiest music setup for a gym floor?
Non-stop genre radio stations: pick one and it keeps going. Studio Suite and Premium Pulse include all Fitness Radio stations.
Can I build an all-day playlist?
Studio Suite includes a 48-hour playlist builder. Build one playlist up to 48 hours, or stack existing playlists to reach 48 hours.
Who covers public performance licensing for my classes?
In the US, playing recorded music to a class is a public performance, licensed through performing rights organizations such as ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and GMR. Many gyms hold those licenses for their facility. Ask your facility what it covers, and read the terms of any music service before relying on it. This is general information, not legal advice.
Plans and this site
What plans does Fitness Radio offer?
As listed on FitnessRadio.com/pricing on Oct 26, 2026: Standard Beat ($9.99, gapless playback, 15 hours a month), Premium Pulse ($19.99, unlimited listening, BPM and pitch control, 32-count downbeat detection, Tabata/HIIT creator, all radio stations, custom and smart playlists) and Studio Suite ($49.99, 48-hour playlist builder, all radio stations, unlimited listening). Check the pricing page for current prices and billing options.
Is there a free trial?
Yes. Start one here.
Who runs Fitnes Radio?
Fitnes Radio (fitnesradio.com) is a workout music guide published by Fitness Radio L.L.C., the company behind FitnessRadio.com. We say so on every page. When we describe other services, we link our sources and date what we checked.