Re: OT: ASCAP/BMI and music licensing

[Travis Hartnett <travishartnett@gmail.com>]

The irony of these shops coughing up money to ASCAP or BMI for a
performance license, which often has nothing to do with the actual
performers in that shop (leaving aside the stuff played on the CD
player) yet still not paying the performers directly (the usual
coffeshop deal) is painfully humorous.

Most coffeshops don't have a dedicated performance area (such as a
stage) and just move a couple of tables out of the way to make space. 
Thus, the number of paying tables available for the evening is fewer
for music nights, so the music has to justify an automatic income
decrease of say, fifty dollars from those tables over the course of
the night.

But, life goes on.

On 5/21/05, Ronan Chris Murphy <looper@venetowest.com> wrote:
> 
> Ronan Chris Murphy
> www.venetowest.com (Production & mixing: King Crimson, Chucho Valdes,
> Steve Morse, Terry Bozzio, CGT...)
> www.homerecordingbootcamp.com (Workshops around the world teaching the
> art and craft of recording )
> www.livesofthesaints.net (The hottest ambient noise duo since Sonny &
> Cher)
> On May 20, 2005, at 2:48 AM, Travis Hartnett wrote:
> 
> > I received an email from the booking agent at a local coffeeshop which
> > now requires all performers to play 100% original music.  Now, to me
> > this is a good thing, but the overall effect is chilling:
> >
> 
> I am not an expert on this but some what well informed. Its really
> pretty simple, you pay a blanket license to cover all of the artists
> that BMI or ASCAP represent. Its apparent that the owner of the coffee
> shop in question did not want to pay this. You also have the right to
> not pay the blanket license and do a separate contract for each song
> played in your public venue, but that sure seems like a lot more hassle
> than a coffee shop pony-ing up a few hundred bucks a year or less.
> Music is an integral part of the experience of most restaurants or
> coffee shops and to pay a buck or two a day for that hardly seems
> unfair. They make more than that off selling me one iced coffee.
> 
> As a guy that makes 100% of his living in music, I have to say I like
> the idea of other business that benefit from our labor, kicking in a
> couple bucks.
> 
> Ronan (BMI composer and owner of Veneto West Music, BMI)
>