Katie Couric's Notebook: Fitness Soundtrack

It's a staple of any fitness class: the soundtrack.

Whether it's Lady Gaga or the Black Eyed Peas, the right beat gets us moving a little faster, stretching a little further. That means a better workout. Gyms know it,  but so do musicians, who say it's time for health clubs to face the music and pay up for using their tunes.

In Australia, the Copyright Tribunal ruled music is essential to fitness classes and artists should be paid accordingly. That struck a sour note with gyms which will see the average rights fee soar from a thousand dollars a year to 19,000. Similar plans have been proposed in Britain and Canada.

Some gyms are going to the mat over this playing only cover versions by unknown artists who don't get performance royalties. That will keep costs down, but it won't sound the same and those gyms may find customers exercising something else: their right to take their business elsewhere.

That's a page from my notebook.