Paul Stenhouse: Spotify introduces workout classes and AMC's efforts to turn a movie theatre into a concert experience

Spotify now has workouts  

Not just playlists for your workouts, but actual workouts. They've partnered with Peloton to make 1400 curated classes available globally. You don't need dedicated Peloton equipment for these workouts – some don't require any equipment at all.  

It's available in most global markets and included with a Premium subscription. It makes the Spotify offering a more direct comparison to the Apple Music and Apple Fitness offerings.  

Instead of going to a stadium for a concert, what about going to the movie theatre?  

The question will be, how do you make this feel more exciting, inviting, enticing than just watching a livestream?   

AMC thinks they can turn the 'movie theatre' into a live entertainment portal and is launching new tech at 300 locations across the USA. The artists will be able to see, hear, and respond to the theatre audiences – so it's almost like a zoom, rather than a livestream.  

The initial lineup includes 'one night only' concerts from the likes of Paris Hilton, Kim Petras, and Bebe Rexha —so known names, but not exactly BIG names— and tickets will range from $40 to $75 depending on the artist and the location.  

Movie theatres do have incredible sound systems, and it'll be interesting to see if they get creative with how they use the big screen – maybe it's a new creative format to lean into? 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast
from News Talks, that'd be.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
It feels like every second week Spotify is getting into
something new, whether it's books or podcasts. Well, now it
is workouts. Spotify is adding workouts, not just playlists for
your workouts, but workout workouts. Our texpert Paul Steinhouse is
a fitness buff himself, so I'm sure, oh yeah, all
the details for us this morning. Oh no, I'm like

(00:32):
working out.

Speaker 3 (00:34):
Oh I know. I was gonna say, here's the problem, Jack.
It's the making fitness too accessible, and I don't like
that because the excuses disappear, you know what I mean,
because they like they've even they even said in their
release they're like, you don't even need special equipment to
do these classes. Yeah, I just need to be on
the floor and then do crunches. No, thank you. So

(00:56):
they've partnered with Peloton. Pelotons are really big fitness hardware company,
if you will. They make bikes and rollers and treadmills
and things like this. But the thing that made Peloton
different was they had these really great workouts that actually
they did live, which is kind of fun and like
you could high five while you were on your bike
and stuff, and then the instructor would call you out
and be like, yeah, Jack Tame zero three in Auckland

(01:19):
gave me a high five where he's just hit two
hundred classes. It's it's a whole thing.

Speaker 1 (01:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:23):
And the thing that's funny is they've all become all
these instructors have all become like like almost legit celebrities.

Speaker 2 (01:29):
Celebrities. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's an interesting business model, right
because it used to be that you might pay for
an exercise bike or pay for a treatmill and that
would be it. But instead they hook you into a
subscription model as well. Kachenkching Oh yeah, but they did
something interesting.

Speaker 3 (01:45):
So not totally sides there, but they used to be
really expensive and they dropped the price of them, of
the of getting in which you know, they were going
through some hard times with their stock in post COVID
and blah blah blah. But this is really interesting for
Peloton too because they're still trying to find where they're
going to go next. They're doing some of the like
GLP one stuff, but now yeah, they're trying to get
into this like this other world of licensing content to

(02:06):
think like that. Spotify likes it because Apple Music has
Apple Fitness, right, so now they can kind of feel
like they've got this competitive set. And to be honest,
it's it's kind of like the contents made. It's probably
pretty cheap to put on your platform, and it sounds good,
doesn't it. But but hey, if you if you're looking
for a workout, you want to go for a run
with someone, they can motivate you and yell at you

(02:28):
a bit and open your Spotify, open Spotify.

Speaker 2 (02:34):
Okay, interesting, Hey, instead of going to a stadium for
a concert, what about going to a movie theater?

Speaker 3 (02:41):
Mm I'm I've got mixed opinions on this when I
feel like you, as a big Musojack might have some
feelings here too. It's just how do you make a
live concert experience that is being broadcast to theaters? Because
that's what this this is what is being done over
here in the state. It's a big theater chain called AMC,

(03:02):
So they're going to have effectively two ways. It's not
really like a broadcast. It sounds more like a zoom.
So the person who's putting on the show is broadcasting
to something like three hundred different theaters across America, right,
But they can also see and hear the theater back
to them, right, So it's not it's not just the
one way broadcast. It's not two way interactive.

Speaker 2 (03:23):
So in the same way that you're palatal instructors talking
to you, they can they can see a theater like
a movie.

Speaker 3 (03:29):
They can see it. They can see the movie theater
of people.

Speaker 2 (03:32):
So it's like, wow, this is the like the hoitz synym,
like give us a whooo, yes, yes, that is it.

Speaker 3 (03:42):
And so it's just it's it's hard to know if
this is going to be more exciting, more inviting, more enticing.
They're just sitting at home and watching a live stream.
They want you to pay between forty and seventy five dollars,
depending on the artist and the location and the first
artist they have lined up for these one night only
concerts broadcast across these movie theaters. You've probably heard of them,

(04:06):
but that big names, the people like Paris Hilton and
Competres and bb Rexer. So we're not talking like Coldplay. Yeah,
we're not talking.

Speaker 2 (04:15):
I thought for a moment you were gonna be like
Taylor's Worth's gonna do it, and I was like okay, wow, okay,
well do you go? But no, right, it's not off Broadway,
but it's just slightly yeah.

Speaker 3 (04:25):
Yes, Look, here's the thing though, and here's the thing
I think it maybe has going for it. Movie theaters
have incredible sound systems.

Speaker 2 (04:32):
So if you see a lot of bones, don't you, Yeah.

Speaker 3 (04:36):
Yeah, can you imagine? I actually think it could be
kind of good. But at the end of the day,
you are watching a screen. So I do I do
wonder if this is going to be Like maybe maybe
it's a new creative format for some of these artists
to lean into. They've leaned into the TikTok, Yeah, maybe
they'll lean into the AMC screen.

Speaker 2 (04:49):
Well, you you're watching a screen, but there is still
a collective component because you're with other people watching a screen.
So maybe it's you know, it's not like you're just
sitting there watching a video on your phone. You are
with ever been if you've.

Speaker 3 (05:03):
Ever been to the movies in America, you already know
that it is a very collective experience.

Speaker 2 (05:07):
It is very much a collective experience.

Speaker 3 (05:09):
Yeah, they are the best. The thing about Americans, this
probably wouldn't work in New Zealand. Americans are like the
best audience around.

Speaker 2 (05:16):
Yeah, that's true, Like they really are. They themselves up
each other up.

Speaker 3 (05:19):
They love it, they love it.

Speaker 2 (05:20):
There's a lot of commentary and wooing and yeah yeah.

Speaker 3 (05:23):
Yes, ye're standing up and clapping during films. It's a
whole thing.

Speaker 2 (05:28):
Yeah, that's a very good point. I actually think this,
if done well, could work.

Speaker 3 (05:34):
Or you think it might have legs.

Speaker 2 (05:35):
I think it might have legs at least in the States.
Maybe not, maybe not in New Zealand. It's interesting though,
because I'm just thinking about a music review of Chris
and he loves live music. I actually don't know if
I've met anyone, who ever, who goes to as much
live music as him, and that includes music heads in
New York who I don't think could match. Chris is
like he just goes to the volume of shows that

(05:56):
this man manages to attend. And yet he was so
excited for Coachella a few weekends ago. He wasn't going
to Coachella, but his plan was to make yep, he
was just going to watch the stream the whole all weekend.
He loved watching the show so much and loved the
production values that they put into the Coachella live stream
that has been for the weekend for both weekends of
Coachella was just to park up in the loud and

(06:17):
watch Coachella. So someone like him could absolutely, I'm sure
be convinced with Okay, we have to ask fifty bucks.

Speaker 1 (06:24):
Yeah, well I'll ask him.

Speaker 3 (06:24):
Give him to text ninety two ninety two exactly.

Speaker 2 (06:26):
Well, we help me here very soon. So I'm not
sure that Elvis Harding. Though Elvis Harding is our album
of the weekend, I'm not sure that Elvis Harding is
going to be a you know, is going to be
the right fit for this kind of show. But anyway,
we'll ask him about there.

Speaker 1 (06:36):
Thank you, Paul. For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame,
listen live to News Talk z'd B from nine am Saturday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.