When the covid pandemic hit and Americans sheltered in-place, many of us looked to Peloton (PTON) for an easy and convenient way to stay active from within the confines of our own homes.
It seemed like every day, particularly in dense urban and suburban areas, grey Peloton trucks zipped through the streets delivering $1,400 bikes and shoes to eager customers. At a certain point, Peloton couldn't keep up with demand. At some points, waitlists for a new bike were between six to eight weeks. Treadmills took even longer -- between 10-12 weeks.
DON'T MISS: How to Get Free Lululemon Leggings (Act Fast)
Throughout the entirety of 2020, the stock crescendoed to new highs on what seemed like a weekly basis (it peaked in December 2020, at $163 per share). But, as is the case with many things, trends change and ends come. The stock has since returned to earth and hovers around $7 per share as of this writing.
Peloton Can Adapt and Change (Content)
Peloton might have been beloved by many during the pandemic, but times change, and those who actually still use the equipment grew angry when they noticed more classes disappearing.
Peloton features many artists in its studio exercise classes, and some of these classes feature explicit or offensive content. In 2019, it faced a lawsuit by the National Music Publishers Association for allegedly using music by artists like Lady Gaga, Drake, and Rihanna without paying for it.
Peloton ultimately settled, however the fallout from the suit was that it quietly deleted thousands (some estimate over half) of its 12,000 classes that played anything with potential copyright infringement. Naturally, people got angry. Especially since Peloton liked to tout its "ever-growing" library of classes.
in 2022, U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman issued a 40-page decision in Manhattan saying customers in New York between April 2018-March 2019 could try proving they overpaid because Peloton kept mum about the "imminent" removal of such a large portion of its digital library.
However, in May, the same judge issued a 74-page decision, determining that customers could not sue in a group.
"Liman said the customers could not sue on a theory they were induced to pay premium prices because some might not have seen Peloton’s challenged statements. He also said the customers did not measure the damages attributable to those statements," Insurance Journal notes.
Peloton Is No Stranger to Issues
Peloton has had its fair share of controversy. In early January 2023, Peloton paid a $19 million fine for failing to alert federal safety regulators about potential hazards or issues with its Tread; at least one 6-year-old was killed and a dozen other injuries had been reported due to the hardware.
Around the same time in 2023, Peloton also said it would no longer feature any songs from rapper Kanye West in its content library.
"This means our instructors are no longer using his music in any newly produced classes and we are not suggesting any class that includes his music in our proactive recommendations to Members," Peloton told blog Pelobuddy in a statement, adding the decision would be effective "immediately."
Eagle-eyed members noticed that Peloton actually began deleting old classes from its library in December. Starting on Dec. 6, the undertook a "fairly significant class purge overnight," according to Pelobuddy. The purge continued through Dec. 9, with over 1,000 classes removed without notice or warning.
