Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO Premium Education

ICI/PRO is the Indoor Cycling Instructor Community's resource for free music, Instructor teaching tips, motivational cues, education, entertainment, class profiles, routines and music playlists.

The Great Spotify Enigma Survey

by

Spotify Enigma

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.

Why Try Spotify?

by

As an indoor cycling instructor, you already know that music plays an important part in creating an exceptionally motivating class.

 

But sometimes, searching for new music and developing playlists can be time consuming and costly. Since iTunes came out with its social network, Ping in 2010, I’ve had great success finding music and sharing songs and playlists there with other instructors.  In fact, I may have been happy to stay with Ping forever.  Then I heard a rumor that with its new upgrade this fall, iTunes will be dropping Ping.  I can neither confirm nor deny that rumor, but it did scare me enough into looking at other music options.

 

That’s when my search began for a new music-sharing site that would offer me the ease of finding new music, putting my playlists together and sharing them with other instructors.  I knew about other social music sites such as MeeMix, , Maestro.fm, and Last.fm, and I had dabbled in Spotify before, even recreating some of my iTunes playlists and publishing them there.  I had never really explored Spotify enough to see all that it had to offer though.

 

With the possibility of Ping not being available to me any more, I knew that it was time to jump in and give Spotify another try.  This was around the same time that John contacted me to write some blog posts here at ICI/ PRO.  I mentioned to him that I was dabbling in Spotify, and he said it would ‘change the way I use music in my indoor cycling classes.’ As music ‘junkie’ and someone that had become pretty adept at creating playlists, sharing them and using them in my classes, I was sure that he was exaggerating.

 

As the next few weeks went by, I continued to explore Spotify, upgraded to ‘premium’ membership status and gained more confidence using it. I also installed the Spotify app on my new iPhone.  In that short time, I have almost completely stopped purchasing new music in iTunes and cancelled my  $12.99/month eMusic account.  I’ve  also begun to stream my playlists in my indoor cycling classes through my phone. Amazing, really, if you stop to think about it.  I’m still working out the kinks in this area, but overall I’d say it’s going quite well.

 

To say that this was a challenge for me would be an understatement, because I consider myself just a bit technologically challenged, and I will admit that I found Spotify difficult to navigate at first. I am not someone that picks things like this up easily. I’m guessing that a lot of you reading this are in the same boat.  I’m still working on learning how to use Spotify to it’s fullest potential.  While I know that I am only using a small part of what’s available to me as a premium member, I’ve already decided that John was right.  It already has started to change the way I’m using music in my classes.

 

Let me begin by telling you a few of the things that I already love about Spotify:

 

  • It’s inexpensive.   I know what you’re thinking.   How is $9.99 a month for a premium membership inexpensive?  Here’s how:  You don’t have to purchase music anymore.  You have thousands of songs available for you to use.  Between my monthly eMusic payment and my iTunes purchases, I was spending well over the $9.99 that I am paying per month for Spotify.

 

  • It’s simple to create playlists.  This part of the process is actually very similar to iTunes, only much simpler. You can browse new music, see what others are listening to and create your own playlists in less time than if you had to download them and drag them into your playlists.  In just a few clicks, you have everything you need at your fingertips.

 

  • You can share your playlists:  Kind of like sharing playlists on iTunes only you can actually sync an entire playlist to your device and use it in your own cycling class.  Sure, on iTunes you could purchase entire playlists easily, but it would cost you anywhere from fifteen to twenty dollars or more.  With Spotify, you have access to thousands of songs and playlists and you can use as many as you’d like.

 

While I’ve learned a lot about Spotify in the few short weeks that I’ve been exploring it, I still have so many questions about it.  I’m quite certain that I have not even scratched the surface of all that it has to offer me as a cycling instructor.

 

For example, here are few things that I’ve struggled with continued to struggle with:

 

  • I’m finding  it hard to find other people to ‘follow’.  One way to find people is to  log in through your Facebook account and follow your Facebook friends that are on Spotify, but I am specifically looking for other instructors and people with good musical taste.  No offense to my Facebook friends, but most of them don’t fit into either category.  It’s not as simple as ‘searching’ for people by name.

 

  • I’m still learning the whole ‘online’/’offline’ thing.  Do I want to stream my music via the Internet, or take it ‘offline’, which is a feature of the premium membership?  One lesson I learned: when you are ‘online’ and your iPhone rings during class, your music will pause until you dismiss the call, unless you switch your phone to ‘airplane’ mode.

 

My goal until my next post is work out some of these kinks and share more of my Spotify experience with you.  I would love it if I didn’t have to take this journey into the great unknow alone, so In the meantime, I will put this challenge out to those of you not yet using Spotify premium:

 

At the very least, try the free membership to see how you like it.  If you ‘re ready to make the jump, I promise you that the premium membership will be worth every penny.  I would be more than happy to entertain any questions that you may have about starting up with Spotify. If I don’t know the answer, I’ll try to find it for you.
Until then, keep the music flowing!

 

Here are a few links that you may find helpful:

 

Spotify

Try Spotify Premium Free For 30 Days! 

Chris’ Spotify profile

 

Originally posted 2012-09-11 15:32:23.

Favorite Track(s) of The Week

by

If you have teenage boys at home like I do, you may have already heard the tracks I'm sharing today.  My guys love both soccer and basketball and when they aren't playing on the field and the court, they are often found in the basement with their friends playing FIFA or NBA on the Playstation.  FIFA 2016 came out earlier in the week and I get just as excited as they do because I love to check out the track lists when the new games come out.  I almost always find at least a few good songs to use in my classes.  (NBA 2K 2016 is coming out Friday.)

Here is a list of the entire track list for FIFA.  You're sure to find something you like.  One of the better known tracks on the list is New Rush by Gin Wigmore which has been appearing on my playlists for a while now.

Try this one for a flat road at around 100 rpm's.  It was just released in August 2015 and it has a great sound:

The Royal Concept — Smile

iTunes link

And here is one that was released in July 2015 and would make a great hill climb at around 62 rpm's.

Jax Jones — Yeah Yeah Yeah – Radio Edit

iTunes link

I can't wait to check out the NBA 2K 2016 playlist starting tomorrow!

Any other songs you're using from the list?

What's your favorite unique place to find new music?

Originally posted 2015-09-25 06:06:34.

Staying Connected To Your Students

by

th-14As a long time educator, I’ve learned some lessons that have been very valuable to me as I added ‘Cycling Instructor’ to my resume.  One of the things that I’ve learned over my years in education is how much my students and parents appreciate being connected to what’s going on in the classroom.  In addition, my students are made to feel like they are a part of a family.  Getting to know each and every one of them on a personal level is a goal I have in my classroom each school year.   It builds camaraderie and it lets them know that I care.  In return, I’m greeted with happy parents and almost 20 beautiful smiling faces every day.

This concept can be translated into your indoor cycling class in several ways.  Connecting with your students can be as simple as sending out weekly emails.  Or if you’re really ambitious, you can connect by blogging or through your own personal website. Your options are limitless!

How many times has a student come to you after class and asked you ,  “Now, which days/times do you teach”? Even though it’s surely posted on every wall in the facility.  How often do you hear, “Wow, I loved that one song, what was it”?  Or “I wish I had known class was cancelled-you added a class-you were subbing for so and so.”

Your students want to know what’s going on, and the easier you make it for them to get that information, the more they are going to appreciate it.  In return, you WILL see your class size grow.

If you have a computer and five minutes a week, you’ll be off to a positive start. Here are a few simple ways that you can connect with your students:

Weekly Emails:

  • Bring a sign up sheet on a clipboard with you to class and ask your students for their email address if they would like to receive updates and important information regarding your class.(Of course let them know that you would never share their information with anyone first.) As new members join and become consistent in your program, they will appreciate the connection, so keep that clipboard in your gym bag at all times.  Every so often, make an announcement to see if anyone would be interested in receiving emails.  If a member comes to you with a question about your classes or teaching schedule, suggest that they join your email list.
  • Send out a mass email once a week.  In the email give your students information about any closings or cancellations or special classes that you might be teaching that week.  Your students will also appreciate the heads up when you’ll be subbing for another instructor or if another instructor will be filling in for you.
  • If it’s a slow news week in your cycling world, add in a link to a good article about indoor cycling or a funny clip or picture.
  • If you have your weekly playlists on iTunes or Spotify, add a link so your students can have a listen.

It doesn’t have to be elaborate, but I promise you-your students will appreciate you for it!

Connecting Through Facebook:

Facebook Groups

  • You can easily create a group through Facebook where members can post, share and ask questions about your indoor cycling program. 
  • Creating a Facebook ‘Group’ is really pretty simple.  If you have a Facebook account,  click on ‘Groups’ under the ‘Applications’ menu on the left side of your home page. Enter your group information and invite members from a list of your Facebook friends.
  • You have the option of  keeping your group private or open to the public.  Facebook members that are not already your ‘friends’ can search your group and request to be added to it.
  • You can customize who can post on your group page, but it’s fun to keep it open for all group members to post.
  • You can add photos and links to your Facebook groups.  This is a good place to post your cycling playlists for your students to view.

Facebook Pages

  • A Facebook ‘Page’ differs from a Facebook ‘Group’ in that it allows only the page administrator (you) to post.   It is open to the public and anyone that ‘Likes’ your page can see your updates on their newsfeed.  It is not as interactive as a ‘Group’, but still a great way to get information to your students.  Page administrators (you) can also track your page’s activity.
  • To create a Facebook ‘Page’:  Go to this link which will take you to the Facebook page wizard. It will lead you through the steps and you will have your very own page in no time!  You can view my Facebook page here.

If you’re feeling ambitious, here are a few other ideas for staying connected:

  • Of course you could always create your own blog or website.  I originally created my blog, Chrispins, with my students in mind. And while they still check it out, it has really blossomed into place where I communicate with other instructors around the globe.
  • If you’ve never checked out FitGuru, it is a good (free!) tool for communication with your students as well.  It takes a little bit of time to set up, but once you have it rolling, it is quick and easy to maintain your site.  It allows you to easily email all of your members with the click of a button and you can post your teaching schedule there along with important news.

If you are not already connecting with your students in some way, give one of these ideas a try and see the difference it can make in your classes.

How do you communicate with your students? Are you already using some of these methods or do you use a method that I did not mention?

Originally posted 2013-01-22 05:44:28.

Where did Spotify’s Playlist Timer Go?

by

where did the spotify total playlist timer go?

What Rocket Scientist at Spotify thought this would be a good idea?

What the @#$%^& was Spotify thinking by removing the total playlist time in the latest update? The number of followers has zero value to me when I'm building a playlist.

Last week my Spotify displayed this message offering to update, which I regrettably did.

Don't upgrade Spotify if you want to keep your playlist timer

Don't upgrade Spotify if you want to keep your playlist timer.

Now I have no clue about the total length of the playlist. Chris Hawthorne and I are trying to find a work-around, but for now I suggest using the little X in the right hand corner of the update notice if you haven't updated yet.

 

Originally posted 2013-03-17 09:35:00.

How do I add a Soundcloud track into Spotify or Deezer?

by

I'm still getting asked (and see questions on Facebook) about integrating music MP3's from multiple sources (Soundcloud's the most popular) into a Spotify or Deezer playlist.

We'll use Spotify for this tutorial as Deezer is nearly identical and Spotify is more popular right now. I'm using a PC, but the solution is the same on a MAC if you're having this problem that goes something like this:

Hi John,

I downloaded a Free Music Friday track from Soundcloud (or one of Dennis Mellon's fabulous 3 song mixes) and want to include it in a Spotify playlist. I'm pretty sure I downloaded the track and it opened and played in iTunes – but I can't find it anywhere in Spotify.

Can you help me?

Frustrated Instructor 🙁

Hidden settings in iTunes and Spotify and your Internet Browser

We'll actually they're not hidden, just hard to find without knowing where to look. There are two places that will decide what local files (music that you have in iTunes) will be displayed in Spotify's Local File Library.

iTunes settings

When you download a MP3 from any website, it will typically end up in your Download Folder. I say typically because the default location on every browser (Chrome, FireFox, Safari – please don't use IE) is your computer's Download Folder. If your downloaded MP3s don't end up in your Download Folder you can change the location in the browser's settings. Leave a comment below if you need help.

To get your new remix into iTunes you just need to click the file and it should open in iTunes. If it doesn't open iTunes and go to Edit > Preferences > Advanced and tic the box shown below and then close the Edit window. Click another MP3 in your Download Folder and you'll get a message, something like; iTunes is not the default music player… would you like it to be? You do. Select yes and that part's done.

open MP3s with iTunes

Now just because a MP3 opens and plays in iTunes, doesn't mean it's actually in iTunes.

Go back to the Advanced settings in iTunes. Tic the two boxes shown below so when you open a track iTunes will make a copy and add it to your My iTunes Music Folder. That will solve 99% of the problems I hear 🙂

Soundcloud MP3s into Spotify or Deezer Playlists

Spotify settings

The defaults settings in Spotify should be set correctly. So once you've downloaded a track, clicked it and it opened in iTunes, it will show as a local file in Spotify. Here's where you check if it doesn't.

Soundcloud MP3s into Spotify settings

Yes I know Spotify is supposed to also include files from your Download Folder – I'm not sure it works for everyone. So Tic everything you see here.

Did this solve a big problem for you? Here's how you can reciprocate value with me and have access to dozens of similar tricks combined with over 1300 articles and 60+ class profiles.

Favorite Track(s) of The Week!

by

Happy Christmas!  Due to the holiday I'm a bit late with the post this week, but I hope you find something here you can file away and use next Christmas season.

First of all, I couldn't be more excited about the fact the The Beatles are now streaming on nine different services including Spotify and Apple Music!  John wrote about it and shared one of his favorites yesterday.  This YouTube video may just give you a few more ideas for songs to use in your classes or just for your own personal listening:

With it being Christmas, I'd love to share a few of my favorite “cycle-worthy” songs of the season.  This is not a cycling playlist, but rather a collection of songs that I've used in the past.  It includes hills, flat roads, warm ups and cool downs.

In addition, this is a great collaborative playlist which includes over 20 hours of Christmas music added by some amazing instructors and created by Evan Reese.  Show him some love by clicking on his name on the playlist page and following him there because he has some great music for cycling.  And if you have any Christmas tunes to share that aren't already included on the list, be sure to follow and add it to the playlist!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

Favorite Track of The Week

by

Ready to try out some brand new music in your next class?  This week's favorite track is a climb at around 65 RPM  from “dark pop” girl band MUNA.  From their just released album titled About U,  Around U has a steady beat with a few slow-downs in the music at :44 and 3:26.  It finishes a bit slower starting around 4:30.  You can use that final :45 as a recovery or pick up the climb to the end.  Some of the other tunes worth checking out on the same album: Loudspeaker, I Know a Place and Crying on The Bathroom Floor.  

iTunes link Around U by MUNA

Favorite Track(s) of The Week

by

Sprints, speed work, accelerations, cadence building drills-whatever you call them, we all use them in our classes.  I love collecting songs that  have a natural pick up (usually on the chorus) to use for this purpose.  Today I'm sharing two of my favorites along with the timing that I use in my classes. I hope you can work them into your next cycling profile!

Both songs are by Danish metal band Volbeat.

  1. Lola Montez: I use this song for accelerations on the chorus at :25; 1:13; 2:25 and 4:00.  Each acceleration is approximately 25-30 seconds.  Recoveries get longer as the song progresses.

Volbeat — Lola Montez

iTunes link

2. A Warrior's Call:  Accelerations at :41; 1:50 ; 2:50 and 3:50, each of them 30 seconds.

Volbeat — A Warrior's Call

iTunes link

 

Favorite Track(s) of The Week

by

Have you ever watched a commercial and wondered, “What’s that song?”. I’ve seen this Diet Coke commercial dozens of times and every time I see it, I find myself humming this song for hours. I googled it, but could just have easily Shazamed it if I’d had my phone next to me. (If you’re not Shazaming, you should definitely try it! It’s a great way to find and save new music to use later in your classes!)

Check it out in Spotify:

Boom! Bap! Pow! — Suit

Click here to get it in iTunes!

It’s got kind of a retro sound and would work well for a short seated or standing flat or even a warm up.

Here’s another flat road I’m loving lately:

Moriah Peters — Brave

iTunes link

If you like to use Christian Rock (or even if you don’t) in your classes, this one is perfect. Check out these lyrics:

Brave
Fight like a soldier
Brave
Rise like a warrior
Brave
Won't stop till the final day
Brave
I want to be stronger
Brave
Gonna be bolder
Brave

And last, here’s a favorite that I used in this week’s playlist  by one of my favorites, Haik Naltchayan. I used it as a long, steady climb in and out of the saddle:

Haik Naltchayan — Le Tour De France

iTunes link

 

The Great Spotify Debate: Renting Vs. Buying

by

Spotify-vs-itunes-300x184I get a lot of questions about Spotify, but the one question that I get over and over  from people that are interested switching from iTunes is:  “Do you own the music?”, or “Can I sync music from Spotify to my iPod or burn it to CD? “ And my answer is always the same: “No, you can’t, but you won’t believe what you CAN do for only $9.99 a month!”  Now I know that bothers a lot of people.  What's the sense in spending $9.99 a month and having nothing to show for it?  How is this worth the cost?

It seems that when it comes to music for our cycling classes, there are two camps: Those that want to own all of their music, and those that see their music as more disposable and don't mind ‘borrowing' it.

If you are strictly an iTunes user, then you own the music that you purchase. Well, at least you own the license to listen to songs on many devices.(* Here’s an interesting article from CNN that raises questions about digital music ownership.)  It’s all yours.  I once strictly used iTunes and now I own a LOT of music.  Most if it I rarely listen to or use in my playlists anymore.  It just sits there taking up storage space on my computer.

If you are a Spotify user, you are essentially borrowing the music.  You are paying Spotify $9.99 for UNLIMITED access to their extensive library of tunes.  I (along with many other cycling instructors that have jumped on the Spotify bandwagon) believe that the borrowing is the way to go.

Here are my top 8 reasons why I would rather borrow music from Spotify than buy it :

  1. I have unlimited access to music.  I rarely am unable to find a song that I am looking for.  If that does happen, I will purchase the song on iTunes or Amazon, but I’m still not spending as much money as I was pre-Spotify.
  2. I can listen to a song all the way through and then decide if it’s something I want to use in my playlist. I can’t count the number of times that I have purchased a song on iTunes and then later found that it was not suitable for my playlist.
  3. Spotify has a radio feature that allows me to ‘like’ songs as I listen.  These songs then go into a file called ‘liked from the radio’ and can be easily accessed for future playlists. This is a great tool for finding new music.
  4. I don’t have songs (most of which I’m not listening to) clogging up all of my computer space.
  5. I  can take my playlists ‘offline’, which means I can use them anywhere, even without an Internet connection. **You do need to have an iPhone or smart phone device to sync your music.
  6. I can follow other instructors and see what they’re listening to. I can check out their playlists and if I like what I hear, I can pull a few of the songs over to my own files.  If I’m in a bit of a rut, I can even follow someones entire playlist and sync it to my device to use in my own class. (Tip: This is frowned upon if you work in the same gym.)
  7. Many songs that I borrow, I may only use a few times.  If I use it more than that, it will always be there.  If I don’t use it again, I won’t feel that I have wasted my money.  There are many other songs out there just waiting to go on my next playlist.
  8. In my leisure time, I do enjoy listening to music.  The music that I listen to at home or in the car is not always the same as the music I listen to in my cycling classes.  For example, I love using Pitbull in my classes.  I can honestly say that I would never listen to his music outside of my class.  So owning a bunch of Pitbull does not seem cost effective to me.  Here’s another example: My all time favorite band is the Beatles.  I have rarely used any Beatles tunes in my classes, but I love to listen to them in my leisure time.  Do I own all of my Beatles music?  You bet I do.  And if I want to borrow it from Spotify, I have that option too.

Spotify is the best $9.99/month I have ever spent as an instructor.  It has made my class preparation less time consuming, more fun and much more convenient and to me and that is worth every penny.

What do you think? Do you feel more comfortable owning your music or are you OK with borrowing it?

 

 

Latest Posts

Powered by WishList Member - Membership Software