So as write this in my local VA Kauai café, I hear the same songs that I hear every time I’m here, over and over, and it seems the well of Epidemic Sound has run dry already.

As a community, VA members are not complaining as much about the music. We are resigning ourselves to this lesser experience. Understandably, since no head office feedback has given us hope to do otherwise. Whilst I ponder this, I wonder how it stands up as a business model. As a customer it feels like complacency, a kind of,  ‘we know you don’t like it but hey you’ll get used to it’ kind of approach.

We know in our hearts that we will never grow to love it, it will never be the same joyful experience as commercial music but maybe we will come to accept that it isn’t going to change. Virgin hope that due to location, or because we need creche or because our children do swimming lessons or our friends come here, that we will just tolerate the lesser offering. It feels like arrogance and an unusual approach to customer experience.

However, regardless of whether members reconcile themselves to the new music, the increased effort involved in putting together playlists has led to a shortage of instructors willing to commit to this additional workload. In addition, new instructors are struggling without recognisable hits to support them as they start their teaching journey. We were promised a new wave of instructors trained in ES music but certainly at my local gym this has not materialised. So even if the customers do what VA are hoping, and ‘suck it up’ the future of exercise to music at VA still does not seem assured with the continued use of ES.