I get it, I started at a small gym too. And I feel for the small gyms, the rec teams, and the school teams with this. But $100 per kid for music is still not that bad. In the entirety of cheer, it's a drop in the bucket.
As unfortunate as it is, this ruling will make the price of music go up if you want a half decent mix. At least until the music side of the industry gets back on its feet. The little producers will be forced out of business because they cannot produce their own original music. People go to them because they are cheap. They can't be cheap anymore. If they can't produce their own music, they have to buy liscencing, which isn't cheap. There will be less producers. There will be a surplus of demand and not nearly enough supply so price is going to go up on that alone. I see $800 being the low end now for a sub par mix.
The music rules are going to have to force smaller gyms to either
1. be creative with finding quality music
2. lower the quality of the music they'll use
3. budget your families' expenses to make up for the cost of the music in other places. Like instead of custom practice wear, you hand out a plain colored t-shirt and a black pair of soffe shorts. Not even Nike Pros. You don't make your families order Nfinities, they buy cheap white sneakers from a cheaper supplier. There are a million ways to cut costs. And if the families can't afford it then they can't afford it and they will have to quit.
I don't mean to be blunt but cheer is not for everyone. Not everyone can afford it. And the industry has been pricing families out for years. Large gyms offer more bang for a family's buck and they will continue to grow bigger and bigger while small gyms will continue to close/be bought out left and right. This has been the pattern for years.