When Athletic Gym & Recovery Centre launched in Winnellie earlier this year, the founders were not thinking about grand opening discounts or social media follower counts. Ed Vidal and Ari Tsirbas were thinking about doing every single thing correctly from the beginning, and that included sorting music licensing for their gym before a single member walked through the door.
Three months later, they have nearly 600 members and a reputation strong enough to draw the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory to their grand opening. Deliberate choices compound quickly.
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Most gyms are designed around the workout. Athletic Gym & Recovery Centre was designed around what happens before, during and after it.
“A lot of gyms focus only on training, but we wanted something more,” says co-founder Ari Tsirbas. “We designed a complete space where people can train hard, recover properly, and feel part of a real community. Every detail in the gym is intentional.”
Between them, Tsirbas and co-founder Ed Vidal bring 36 years of combined experience across the fitness and business industries. Vidal is a highly awarded bodybuilder who has coached thousands of people across the NT and beyond. That depth of experience shows in how the facility is structured.
The training zones are built for intensity. The recovery zones are built for genuine physiological reset. Members move through both, and the business model is built around keeping them coming back to do it again.
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“To succeed, we haven’t relied on constant new members,” Vidal says. “We focus on retaining existing ones.”
The team knows their members by name. They know their music preferences. They are building a sense of belonging as deliberately as they built the physical space.
For fitness business owners who spend heavily on lead generation and acquisition campaigns, this is worth sitting with. A member who feels genuinely known and connected to a community is far less likely to cancel. Retention compounds in a way that acquisition never quite does.
The Proven Link Between Music and Exercise Performance
Music is central to how Athletic Gym & Recovery Centre operates, and Vidal makes no apologies for treating it as a performance tool rather than background noise.
“In the gym, music enhances performance. That’s not up for debate. It’s scientifically proven,” he says.
More than 139 global studies support that position. Research consistently shows that music during training reduces perceived effort, improves mood and motivation, lowers anxiety, improves physiological efficiency, and produces measurable increases in speed, strength and stamina.
The application at Athletic Gym reflects that nuance. High-energy tracks set the tone in the training areas. In the recovery zone, the approach shifts entirely. Slower, more ambient music helps members slow down and genuinely decompress.
“The goal in that space is not to hype people up, but to allow members to connect with themselves, unwind, and fully recover,” Vidal explains.
Most gyms do not think this carefully about their audio environment. Most gyms also struggle with retention.
Music Licensing for Gyms in Australia Is the Setup Step Most Owners Skip
This is where the Athletic Gym story becomes directly useful for fitness business owners across the country.
Playing music publicly in a gym requires a licence under the Copyright Act 1968. That applies whether the source is radio, Spotify, YouTube, downloaded files or a television. A paid streaming subscription covers personal listening only and does not extend to public performance in a commercial setting.
Ed and Ari secured a OneMusic Australia licence as one of the very first things they did at startup. OneMusic is the combined licensing body for APRA AMCOS and PPCA, covering the rights of both songwriters and recording artists under a single licence.
The OneMusic Fitness Centre licence covers background music, indoor and outdoor classes, music videos and phone-on-hold music. For most gym and studio owners in Australia, it is the most straightforward way to stay compliant.
“As soon as a gym decides to switch on the tunes, licensing has to be part of the setup,” Vidal says. “If music boosts your business, respecting the people who made that music is just part of doing things right.”
Fitness professionals across Australia can obtain a OneMusic licence at onemusic.com.au. For anyone based in Darwin or the NT, a OneMusic representative will be available in Darwin on 26 May for in-person consultations. Email comms@onemusic.com.au to arrange a meeting.
Fitness Business Tips From One of Darwin's Fastest Growing Gyms
Athletic Gym & Recovery Centre is three months old and already leading by example in a market that does not always reward doing things properly.
The thread running through every decision Ed and Ari have made is consistent. Intentional businesses build compounding advantages. The recovery zone keeps members healthier and more consistent. The curated music keeps members emotionally connected to the space. The OneMusic licence keeps the business compliant and protected from copyright infringement risk. None of these are glamorous decisions. All of them matter.
For fitness business owners building something they want to last, that is the benchmark worth measuring against. If you’re a fitness business owner and keen to explore more about what’s involved in music licensing in Australia, check out our detailed guide here.
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