One of the benefits to teaching with OPM (other people's music) is that it forces you out of the safe/comfortable/familiar box you've drawn around yourself. In the past, my musical "box" has limited me to selecting my class music a bit like this:
Interesting little Spotify playlist you have here...
Love it...
Going to use this exactly as you've constructed it...
Well except this Britney Spears track, no way I'd play that in my class...
Pitbull? Eh, no thanks... Not quite my style.
And that cheezie "Tabata" track you've got there near the end? What's up with that? I don't think so... that wouldn't be me... I think I'll just copy most of your tracks into a playlist of my own and add in a few more "appropriate" tracks to replace those that just don't quite fit into my safe/comfortable/familiar box.
We see that our PRO/Playlists are viewed thousands of times in Spotify and Deezer, but a relatively small number are actually followed. What's the difference? You can't alter a playlist you've Followed. You have to use it As Is. You can't meddle or mess with it. You can only hit play and follow where it takes you and your class.
In case you missed it, we discussed what I called; The Great Spotify Enigma back in February. It included a survey where ICI/PRO members communicated they did pretty much what I describe above; Instructors tend to pick and choose songs, rather than Follow and use the playlist as originally constructed. Which is fine, if you're content with staying in your Box.
But I've found that people in my class didn't express much appreciation for the music in my Box.
They do when I use music from Chris, Amy, Julz, Krista, Cameron and other's who I follow on Spotify.
So if you Followed (and used) Chris Hawthorne's latest profile High Intensity Supersets PRO/Playlist you lead your class through two Tabata rounds. Maybe I should have said; the voice in the music lead you and your class through two Tabata rounds. I used this playlist last night and got the inevitable; "that was really cool tonight, John" that reinforces my transition to using OPM 🙂
Both Spotify and Deezer offer large selections of Tabata tracks.
For your free track I found a Tabata track without any voice-over, and yet the timing of each interval/recovery is unmistakable.
Please let me know if you're willing to give it a try.
John is a member on the AFS (Association of Fitness Studios) Advisory Council.
Holding certifications from; Schwinn, Heart Zones, Team ICG and Life Time Fitness, John's held regularly scheduled cycling classes between 1998 and 2015 when he moved to Florida.
When the weather permits, you'll find him riding and leading outdoor groups by himself or with his Tandem partner (wife) Amy.
Thanks for this John! I will definitely give it a try.
Good point about using OPP (other peoples playlists-see what I did there?), you can’t change the tracks.
I always encourage other people to create their own copy of my playlist even if they are using it as is. The reason? If I go back and change a song on my original playlist (which I’ve been known to do when re-using playlists), it changes for everyone that ‘follows’ it as well.
So even if you are using playlists as is, it’s still a good idea to take a few minutes to make your own copy of it.
Chris then I’ll miss your changes/improvements + I’d be too tempted to substitute something that would wreck it.
That’s true. Sometimes I teach a Saturday morning class and I’ll shorten my playlist from an hour to 50 minutes, so it’s still a good idea to at least check ‘followed’ before you leave the house so there are no big surprises. 🙂
Good point – I hadn’t considered you might change the time. Where is that Spotify playlist timer?
I dont’ know! I had heard that the timer was coming back but haven’t seen it yet. Spotify hasn’t updated for me in a while. I certainly plan on celebrating if it does come back!
I’m not using Spotify in class – I work with class builder and ride to the beat 🙂
But I love OPM – and I’d like to use this opportunity to thank everybody for creating all those wonderful playlist and giving me the chance to get to listen to music and artists I didn’t know before. THANKS!
Great point Brigitte – yes, using Spotify just for sampling/discovering and sharing can work along with iTunes and Class Builder.
one can no longer review OPM in Spotify with out the premium version. I just tried to listen to the playlist for podcast #273 and was denied having canceled my premium membership just last month. Radio only without premium.
I think that’s because you’re using your iPad Chuck. Any portable device (but not a laptop) requires the Spotify App and a premium account.
Which could cause a lot of iPad users to switch to Deezer (us USA users we’ll need to wait until they get here)as Deezer is web-based = it works through a web browser.
Spotify uses downloaded software which controls how it’s accessed.