Darwin, NT — Less than three months since opening, Winnellie’s Athletic Gym & Recovery Centre is already making waves across the Territory with its #hardworkspaysoff mantra — including ensuring music creators’ work is respected through a OneMusic licence.
Founded by Ed Vidal, a highly awarded bodybuilder, and Ari Tsirbas, Athletic Gym & Recovery Centre brings together 36 years of combined experience across the business and fitness industries.
The independent, premium training and recovery facility already boasts nearly 600 members and is built on one clear philosophy: do everything deliberately and do everything right.
“A lot of gyms focus only on training, but we wanted something more,” said co-founder Ari Tsirbas. “We designed a complete space where people can train hard, recover properly, and feel part of a real community. Every detail in the gym is intentional.”
For co-founder Ed Vidal, who has coached thousands of people in the NT and beyond, fitness has always been about building better humans- not just better physiques.
One element he has always taken seriously is music.
“In the Gym, Music enhances performance. That’s not up for debate - it’s scientifically proven,” said Ed.“We use high-energy tracks to set the tone,” Ed said. “People walk in here to push themselves—and music is part of that experience.”
“To succeed we haven’t relied on constant new members, we focus on retaining existing ones… and music has a lot to do with how they feel when they’re here. We know all our members names, we know what music they like, what their tastes are. We’re creating a sense of belonging”.
In the Recovery zone, we take a different approach. We focus on more relaxing music to help our members disconnect, slow down, and reset.
The goal in this space is not to hype people up, but to allow them to connect with themselves, unwind, and fully recover — which is the whole purpose of the recovery zone.
Over 139 global studies show that music improves performance in running, cycling, strength and endurance training:
Respecting Music Means Respecting Copyright
Because music is so central to their training philosophy, Ed and Ari made sure one of the first thigs they did at start-up was to secure a licence and ‘do things right’.
They secured a OneMusic Australia licence, which grants businesses permission to legally play music protected by copyright - under the Copyright Act 1968.
Many businesses don’t realise that playing music publicly - from radio, Spotify, YouTube, downloaded files or TV etc – likely requires a licence, even if that music is through a paid streaming subscription.
OneMusic’s Fitness Centre and Fitness & Wellbeing Instructors licence covers:
“As soon as a gym decides to switch on the tunes, licensing has to be part of the setup,” Ed said. “If music boosts your business, respecting the people who made that music is just part of doing things right.”
Athletic Gym & Recovery Centre is positioning itself as a leader in both performance excellence and business integrity.
“We built Athletic Gym & Recovery Centre with intention,” Ari said. “Doing things properly - from training, to community, to music licensing - matters to us.”
Gyms, studios and fitness instructors across the NT can obtain a OneMusic licence easily online, or speak directly with OneMusic for guidance. A OneMusic representative will be in Darwin on 26 May for consultation. Please email OneMusic if you’d like to set up a meeting.
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A penalty from a copyright infringement is not called a 'fine'. They are called 'Damages', but they still reflect costs a Court says a business has to pay for infringing. Businesses are often unaware they may be infringing copyright when playing music in their premises and, if a business plays music protected by copyright without permission, it can end in legal proceedings with thousands of dollars in damages payable by that business.
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