If you have been teaching for the past twenty years like myself, you remember how much of a pain creating music used to be for your classes.
I began teaching when cassette tapes were on their way out and CD's were the tool of the future. Not only was it incredibly expensive to keep your music fresh, it was also time consuming burning music.
The instructors of today's generation have it so easy with all the apps available to create playlists, however, it still requires effort to create upbeat fun playlists for your classes.
A couple years ago I used ti be a big fan of Apple Music, but then camp along Spotify and everything changed. While there is a free version of Spotify, when you are teaching, I highly recommend the premium version.
When people say to me, "you pay $10 a month for music??"I want to laugh because in the old days, I used to pay $30 per CD. If you were lucky you would get a double CD, but after a few weeks, it was easy to grow bored of the same 16 songs. Paying $10 a month is a blessing compared to the old days.
Today you can download an app to your phone and have access to 30 million song (OMG!!). Making playlists is my new favourite pastime because there is so much to choose from and it keeps me excited to teach and choreograph new songs.
Why Spotify? Let's be clear, I am not getting paid for this blog. i choose Spotify for these reasons...
1. The sheer volume of songs to choose from. I can't even begin to describe how cool it is to have so much variety from remixes to new artists, to your old favourites. You can create awesome playlists with a little time and dedication.
2. It's easy to use. Creating a playlist is easy. It's basically drag and drop. You choose a song, click the little three dots and add to or create a playlist. You can even give your playlist an album cover and name them to stay organized.
3. Sharing with friends and peers. We are living in a time of sharing content and music is awesome to share. When I find a kick ass song, I quickly copy the link and send it to my coaches or post it on my Facebook page "Indoor Cycling Teaching Ideas" for others to enjoy.
4. The Daily Mixes! Each day, Spotify creates music playlists based on your selection of music which opens you up to new artists and songs.
5. Downloading Songs is available with the premium account. You can save songs to your phone so if you are not on wi-fi, you aren't wasting cellular data.
6. Hidden Gems - It seems like I am always discovering things I can do with this program.
How to Use Spotify
You can use Spotify on your computer and/or phone. If you are new to Spotify, here is a simple YouTube video to get you started.
SOCAN - If you are Canadian, you will want to look into licensing with SOCAN to play music in your classes. More information available here.
You can follow my Spotify here for all my playlists that match the ebooks and more here https://open.spotify.com/user/12186962864
Best of luck making your playlists!
Happy Teaching
Rachel Seay :)
