Crunch Fitness brings the gym vibe to your computer.
NEW YORK — Music selection is an important consideration for every health club. Deciding what genre to play and for whom and how often, while still satisfying most of the club's members, is an undertaking worthy of Hercules.
Crunch Fitness has decided to use technology to get a boost up on the musical dilemma. This past March, Crunch teamed with Listen.com to launch Crunch Radio, featuring two specially programmed Web radio stations that will be played in all Crunch gyms nationwide. Listen.com has also created a customized Crunch player that allows Web visitors to listen online.
“Music is very important to our customers,” said Doug Levine, chairman and founder of Crunch, of the club's primarily 20-to-40-something members. “They don't want to listen to prepackaged, canned music. They don't want to listen to the radio.”
With this new partnership, Crunch members get to listen to cutting-edge selections from one of two channels. Churn is an up-tempo station featuring artists such as Madonna, Underworld and Fatboy Slim to accompany a high-energy workout. Chill offers members music from acts like Air, St. Germain and Portishead, appropriate for yoga, stretching and cooldown sessions.
The partnership between Crunch and Listen.com came about after company representatives contacted the fitness chain. “We basically have 30,000 people a day going into these gyms,” explained Levine.
“They help influence trends throughout the country. Listen.com said, ‘Listen, we'd die to get that audience and get that type of exposure,’” he continued.
Crunch intends to make money off the Web station by selling banner ads for the site. In addition, Crunch has an in-gym concert series (co-sponsored by RCA Records) for its L.A. and New York locations, as well as a new CD entitled Music To Sweat To, released by TVT records. The album is selling well in Tower, Virgin Records and Borders, according to Levine.