Peloton rival Echelon launches fully-licensed music offering for fitness classes

UK-based fitness brand (and Peloton rival) Echelon has launched a fully-licensed music offering with MediaNet, a music distribution and rights management platform designed for business use.

Seattle-headquartered MediaNet, which was acquired by SOCAN in 2016, will provide licensing, catalog, and rights management services for Echelon through its MediaNet Enterprise product integration, which allows music applications to access over 85 million tracks.

Like its competitor Peloton, which was sued by music publishers in 2019 or copyright infringement and reached a settlement with them in February,  Echelon offers a range of exercise bikes and live and on-demand classes for a monthly subscription.

“Music is a key driver of user motivation and workout efficiency, and Echelon’s relationship with MediaNet unlocks fully-licensed tracks from the top labels and publishers to propel users during a workout,” states the company in a press release.

Echelon was launched in 2017 and claims to have experienced “tremendous growth since 2019, expanding nearly 600%”.

It was sued by Peloton last year, accused of infringing on the company’s intellectual property by copying elements of its bikes.

In response, earlier this year, Echelon filed a petition to try and invalidate a number of US patents held by Peloton.

“Music is such a massive part of our member experience and having the ability to quickly and easily curate custom playlists for our over 1,200 live classes per week is critical to our success story.”

John Santo, Echelon 

“Music is such a massive part of our member experience and having the ability to quickly and easily curate custom playlists for our over 1200 live classes per week is critical to our success story,” said Echelon CTO, John Santo.

“That’s why we decided to work with with MediaNet. Among other things, MediaNet’s single point of service and intelligent identification tools keep us moving in the right direction – and with confidence.”

“We expect this relationship to be great for Echelon users and great for the musicians, songwriters, and performers who provide the music on their platform.”

Jeff Wallace, MediaNet 

MediaNet Vice President of Operations, Jeff Wallace, added: “MediaNet is passionate about the fitness space, and Echelon is a market leader in connected fitness experiences.

“By transitioning its music functionalities to MediaNet’s Enterprise platform, Echelon is unlocking the potential for expanded music content implementations and gaining world-class rights management capabilities.

“We expect this relationship to be great for Echelon users and great for the musicians, songwriters, and performers who provide the music on their platform.”Music Business Worldwide