Playlist launches Kite unit to target multi-brand fitness franchise operators

New updates have been reported about Playlist.

Playlist has introduced Kite as a new enterprise software platform and standalone business unit aimed at multi-brand fitness and wellness franchise operators, deepening its vertical SaaS portfolio after its recent merger with EGYM. Positioned alongside Mindbody, Booker, and ClassPass, Kite is intended to give Playlist a dedicated offering for portfolio-scale franchisors that need centralized oversight across multiple brands and locations.

Kite consolidates POS, CRM, payments, marketing, analytics, and performance data into a single system with a three-tier hierarchy that separates enterprise, brand, and location controls, enabling more precise reporting, governance, and member experience consistency. As a registered Payment Facilitator, Kite also automates royalty and brand-fund collection, streamlines reconciliation, and supports new revenue levers such as configurable add-on fees and differentiated access rules, which could help operators grow monetization without changing core membership pricing.

Playlist CEO Fritz Lanman framed Kite as critical to the company’s strategy to provide infrastructure for in-person wellness experiences at every growth stage, while Kite President Bryan Arp highlighted a market gap in tools built specifically for multi-brand, multi-location franchises with shared memberships and complex royalty flows. The platform, which is already in use at several large multi-brand enterprises, includes Kite Core for member and staff management, Kite Payments for end-to-end processing and royalty automation, Kite Engage for marketing automation, Kite Insights for enterprise analytics, and Kite Perform for integrated fitness performance data and in-studio digital experiences.

Strategically, Kite expands Playlist’s addressable market beyond single-brand studios into higher-complexity, higher-value corporate franchise networks, potentially increasing payment volume, data scale, and cross-sell opportunities across its portfolio. For investors and stakeholders, the move signals a push toward deeper integration of software, payments, and connected fitness capabilities under the Playlist umbrella, with Kite expected to be a key growth engine in servicing large, multi-brand operators seeking scalable, data-driven infrastructure.