by John | Sep 6, 2026 | Instructor Training, Spotify
e·nig·ma [uh-nig-muh] noun, a puzzling or inexplicable occurrence or situation: Spotify is such an awesome service for Indoor Cycling Instructors, it's an enigma to me… why so few Instructors are actually using it.
Or maybe it just looks that way. I'm basing my comment on how few subscribers we see to published playlists.
If you're using Spotify click on the People tab and select another user at random. Check out the number of subscribers they have to any of their published playlists. Even for all the popular Master Trainers I'm connected with, 40 subscribers is a big number for any specific playlist.
I found this playlist of club music on the right that Cameron Chinatti is subscribed to. It has over 57,000 followers.
Why is that?
I was trading emails with contributor Chris Hawthorne, discussing this “enigma” of what appears to be a very small number of Instructors using Spotify… or more specifically; Instructors using Spotify who take advantage of the phenomenal music sharing and new music discovery, that's available to users.
I realize that there are multiple reasons users don't want to share their Spotify usage. You may also view a playlist but not choose to “subscribe” to it. Maybe you listen to a few tracks, find one you like and drag it into one of your own playlists.
Here's an example. Krista Leopold (aka: groupfitpower) and I created these collaborative Spotify playlists and posted them at pedal-on.com. Collaborative playlists allow anyone to add their own favorites = they grow to fantastic Best Songs Lists that you can use to easily & quickly find the perfect track for your next class.
I built my Epic Blue Ridge PRO/Playlist using songs I found on these lists.
Best Intro-Warmup Songs
Best Songs for Climbing
Best Songs for All-Out Effort
Best Songs for Flats
Best Long Songs for Endurance
Best Cool Down Songs
Best Interval Songs
Over two hundred visitors have viewed these lists.
Collectively they have over 275 great tracks.
The most subscribers to any playlist – 16
Sixteen is less than 10% of the number of Instructors who have visited the page.
So again, why is that?
I'm thinking there's more to it… and if its an issue of understanding or the need for more education, we want to help.
So we've created this short survey to understand more about your use of Spotify… if you use it at all.
Totally anonymous if you choose – please take a few minutes and let us know your experiences with Spotify.
Originally posted 2013-02-10 12:43:16.
by John | Jul 6, 2026 | Instructor Training, iTunes, KEEPING IT FUN, Spotify
I've been a Cars fan forever – they were the soundtrack of my senior year in highschool. Yes I know that dates me, but these we cassettes – not 8 tracks 🙁
Turns out I have a bunch of Cars fans in my Thursday class (we're all of similar vintage) so I thought it would be fun to include a few tracks in my class next week.
Digging around I found that there are some very nice Mashups and remixes. Would any of these fit into your next profile?
https://soundcloud.com/thebenz/the-cars-just-what-i-needed
Download Right Click
Download
https://soundcloud.com/charlie-brown-superstar/the-cars-moving-in-stereo-cbs-poolside-with-linda-edit
Here's a nice playlist of original Cars favorites you can sample from.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Originally posted 2015-07-17 08:32:17.
by John | Apr 29, 2026 | iTunes, Spotify
This makes me happy! During Sunday night's LIVE iTunes training one of the participants had what can only be described as an Aha! Moment, where she learned something that made her investment in time worth every minute.
Over the last 3 1/2 years I've answered hundreds of technical questions from Instructors. I've learned that if one Instructor has a question there are probably a bunch of you with the same frustration who would enjoy learning the answer.
The question was; “how do I restore the correct order of a playlist in iTunes if I have clicked on one of the column headers?”
I made this short video to show how to solve this 🙂
The next training date is January 8th where we will be learning Spotify Premimum for iPhones and Android devices. You can join the notification email list here.
Originally posted 2011-12-20 05:36:30.
by Dennis Mellon | Apr 20, 2026 | Dennis Mellon, Instructor Tech Help, iTunes, iTunes & Spotify Training, Spotify
Have you been having a hard time figuring out how to download media from the ICI/Pro website?
Try following these directions and let me know if it helps:
To download media to a Mac:
- Right Click on the blue underlined link
- Select “Download Linked File As”
- Select a download location
- Once file is completely downloaded, find it in the location you selected
- Drag the file into your iTunes or Spotify library OR
- Right Click on the file and Select “Open With”
- From the drop down menu select “iTunes” or “Spotify”
- File should begin playing and is now part of your iTunes or Spotify library
To download media to a PC:
- Right Click on the blue underlined link
- Select “Save Link As”
- Select a download location
- Once file is completely downloaded, find it in the location you selected
- Drag the file into your iTunes or Spotify library OR
- Right Click on the file and Select “Open With”
- From the drop down menu select “iTunes” or “Spotify”
- File should begin playing and is now part of your iTunes or Spotify library
Click here to watch a video.
I hope this helps.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Originally posted 2015-07-17 18:22:05.
by Joey Stabile | Apr 11, 2026 | Audio PROfiles, Bonus Materials, Instructor Tech Help, Instructor Training, iTunes, KEEP IT FUN, Motivation, PRO Podcasts, PRO/Playlists, Spotify
This week features the 2018 Holiday ride from Joey. The ride is primarily focused towards strength, but there is a fair mix of cadence work. Good luck and have fun. Joey
Get all of the ride details HERE.
Get all of the ride details HERE.
Joey's “2018 Holiday Ride” Playlist
1: “Wizards in Winter (Instrumental)”, Trans-Siberian Orchestra (The Lost Christmas Eve)
2: “Mmm Yeah (feat. Pitbull)”, Austin Mahone (The Secret)
3: “Palladio”, Escala (Escala)
4: “A Mad Russian's Christmas (Instrumental)”, Trans-Siberian Orchestra (The Christmas Trilogy)
5: “Switch”, Don Diablo (Switch – Single)
6: “Drop That Low (when I Dip)”, Tujamo (Spinnin Records Best of Dance 2016, Vol. 1)
7: “Carol of the Bells”, Pentatonix (PTXmas (Deluxe Edition))
8: “Santa's Lost His Mojo”, Jeremy Lister (Gift Wrapped – 20 Songs That Keep On Giving!)
9: “Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (Live at C.W. Post College, Greenvale, NY – December 1975)”, Bruce Springsteen (Christmas Hits)
10: “Jingle Bells (feat. Henry Rollins)”, William Shatner (Shatner Claus)
11: “In the Cold, Cold Night”, Tracey Thorn (Tinsel and Lights)
12: “Man Like That”, Gin Wigmore (Gravel & Wine)
13: “What Christmas Means To Me”, 98° (Let It Snow)
14: “You're a Mean One, Mister Grinch”, Famous for a Century (Christmas – Single)
15: “Christmas In Hollis (Bonus Track)”, Run-DMC (Tougher Than Leather)
16: “Deck the Halls”, R.E.M. (Gift Wrapped – 20 Songs That Keep On Giving!)
17: “Christmas / Sarajevo 12/24 (Instrumental)”, Trans-Siberian Orchestra (Christmas Eve and Other Stories)
18: “Feliz Navidad”, Unspoken (Christmas: Joy To the World)
19: “My Dear Acquaintance (A Happy New Year) [Non-Album Track]”, Regina Spektor (My Dear Acquaintance (A Happy New Year) – Single)
Originally posted 2018-12-30 08:49:38.
by John | Mar 27, 2026 | Best Practices, Master Instructor Blog, Spotify
I started to share this over at pedal-on.com and quickly realized that this is another Best Practice for Indoor Cycling Instructors.
Suggestion to anyone reading this who is planning to use Spotify in class.
A cycling coach / friend of mine taught me that race day is never a good day to try something new.
The mark of a Rookie is someone who changes his seat height the night before a big event, or slams the latest energy drink on the way to the race – only to find the new saddle height feels weird and uncomfortable… and the stimulants have your heart (and mind) racing so fast you're worried about what effect all of these changes will have on the race you've trained months for that you're an emotional wreck as you roll to the line and are off the back before the end of the 1st lap.
Experiment during your training and only bring what's familiar to the starting line. Same is true with using Spotify in your class. I've lost track of how many calls and emails I have gotten that begin with; the first time I tried to use Spotify in my class ____________________ happened. It worked perfectly at home… I have no idea why it didn't __________.
Show your professionalism by doing a dry run at your studio before you attempt to use Spotify to deliver your class music.
Teach a whole class by yourself and experiment with your new toy;
- Will it play with Air Plane Mode turned on?
- Can you find your playlist if it's buried in a folder?
- Is the cross fade working correctly?
- Hit a few of the wrong buttons… do you know how to get back?
- Accidentally tap the shuffle (no, just tapping it again won't return it to ordered play) … can you quickly turn shuffle off?
- Get sweaty and try to scroll through the playlist – can you without inadvertently changing tracks?
- Have some sweat drip on the screen – will you resist the temptation to wipe it off with your towel = changing songs? or learn that you can dab the screen without messing everything up?
- Do your local files play when the should?
I'm sure this is only a partial list of the potential problems (feel free to add your own) you could suddenly be faced with, if you run into class without taking the time to become proficient with Spotify.
Originally posted 2013-02-02 12:27:43.
