Peloton loses round 1 in their class purge lawsuit related to music licensing

During the music licensing lawsuit it faced last year, Peloton purged thousands of rides from its archives. Peloton owners were not happy and filed a class-action lawsuit. One person sued Peloton directly and won.

As first reported by The Clip Out, it looks like someone sued Peloton directly, and got a small payout. They were awarded $253 in damages, $8k in costs, and $96k in attorney fees. Of course, the attorneys are the real winners here, but $253 will pay nearly six months of a Peloton subscription.

The class-action lawsuit is still ongoing, but this ruling does set a precedent that Peloton is liable to compensate its riders for the removed classes.

Music is a key part of the Peloton experience, and it seems Peloton has settled its music licensing problems going forward, though.

“We are pleased the music publishers and their songwriter partners in this case have reached a settlement with Peloton that compensates creators properly and sets forth the environment for a positive relationship going forward,” NMPA president and CEO David Israelite said in a statement.

Paul DeGooyer, Peloton’s head of music, added, “Music is an important part of the Peloton experience, and we are very proud to have pioneered a new revenue stream for recording artists and songwriters.”

The Clip Out reported that prior to the purge, there were around 10,000 classes in the archives, and it was left with only half that amount afterward. Of course, Peloton is recording new content daily, so that number is continually going up.