An owner of a local restaurant called me today telling me that he wanted to hire me to play piano in his restaurant, but wants me to only perform non-copyrighted music because he claimed that the authorities have recently informed him that he must pay ASCAP & BMI $200/month for live music performed of all 'copyrighted' songs.

From an entertainer's standpoint, I've never had a club owner bring this up to me this way before. I always thought that the commerical establishments I perform at (from clubs to nursing homes) pay a preset annual(?) royalty fee to cover copyrighted music performed by featured entertainers. Is this a correct assumption?

I realize that legally, all public performance of copyrighted music is subject to royalty payment, but suspect, because this law is not always strictly enforced, that some establishments simply ignore paying it altogether, unless they get caught.

What exactly is the law? Has anyone else ever had a club owner or establishment bring this up to you like this before?

Scott

Scott....they are even down here in Cozumel Mexico..what they do is count the number of seats in the restaurant-bar then multiply that by a number of minimum slaries which is calculated by the # of seating you have... example...you have 50 seats and the chart or list states that you have to pay 50 minimum
salaries for 50 seats...the minimum salary might be $7.00 x50 seats= $350.00 you would have to pay $350.00 per month to the ASCAP
rep...these numbers are for example only, the true figures will vary with each place and it don't matter if you are using a radio
instead of live musicans..I don't know what it is or how it's figured in the Good Ole US
of A but I'll bet it's not to far off...and yes, we have to pay...

I ran into a place here that was fined a bundle because they weren't paying the royalties, so they were not hiring anymore live entertainment.

I never ran into this before, I was amazed.

Turns out the restaurant blew the whistle on themselves. They contacted ASCAP and asked if they needed to pay for live entertainment. Apparently ACAP checked them out and fined them several thousand bucks! They are now out of business.

Probably the other "weird" thing that I remember was something about if a club hired a non-union band they would get black-listed for like a year where no band could perform there. The band I was with at the time was the first band to go back in after they were off the defaulters list.

This seems really strange to me, but it really seems like that's the way it was. Back in about 1972.

Scott

There's only two types of music not subject to royalty fees - original music and classical music, the latter of which is public domain.

That $200/month figure is probably a breakdown of a $2400/year annual fee. I play lots of places and they all pay their ASCAP/BMI/SESAC performance fees for live music. One club told me they pay about $1500/year in fees. The agency rep then told then they had to pay additional fees for having the TV on in the lounge to cover music coming from that - the club refused on the grounds that since they have live music the TV is usually muted... the rep bought that answer.

That thing about non-union bands and being blackballed only happens in areas where the unions have some muscle, like in the Northeast. Here in the Southeast we live in "right to work" states where the union has no authority so noone cares about the union, musician or employer.

Scott,
No disrespect, but why did he want you to play? Has he heard you do original material? From all I know about you, you are a self proclaimed standards kind of guy.
(like me)
What made him think you did original stuff?

I worked in a hotel where the ASCAP representatives stayed when they were in town.

They were rough! What they did is look at the newspaper and any entertainment guides or free newspapers. Then, they checked out all the places that advertised entertainment.

Club owners have some negotiating lattitude. It starts with the number of seats, but also is set by the number of musicians and the number of nights the place has music. Club owner can negotiate the fee down by claiming
that volume is lighter on some nights than others.

Club owners avoid fees on recorded music by
buying a service like Muzak which pays a national fee and passes off that cost in th monthly fee they charge the establishment.

About 10 years ago, ASCAP went after establishments that use recorded music on their hold buttons (doctors offices, etc.).

7 years ago, ASCAP and BMI intended to shut down the consumer electronics show unless exhibitors paid a liscensing fee for the playing of recorded music at trade shows.

These organizations have caused several nice venues to stop music here in Lexington.

My big wonder is how they set compensation for the writers and performers of liscensed music. How do they track music use and figure out how much to pay?

Russ

This is getting stupid.
If this stupidity hits here, I'm gonna quit buying records from these vultures. They should be glad their music is being kept alive at all these days, full of quick hit wonders as the music biz has become.
Just ask Ashley.........

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Roy-Andrè

I agree, and as Capt Russ stated, how do they figure out who gets what and how much...AFTER THE REPS AND THE GUYS WHO THOUGHT UP THIS SCAM TAKE THIERS OFF THE TOP
I wonder?????

I know restaurants and clubs here in li'l Rhody pay a fee, although I do not know what it is ...
Also, the musician's union isn't as strong as it once was in the northeast either ... no one has ever asked me if I was in the union or not ... I realize that in the larger cities such as NYC, Boston, Hartford, and even Providence, and I would think Philadelphia as well, the union can still apply some muscle for major venues such as playhouses, arenas, etc. to protect the interests of their members. When I first started in this business, you belonged to the union or you didn't work. I would think that for the most part the union members are full time guys playing shows, etc.
t.

Okay...so up here in the frozen north, we have SOCAN (Society OF Composers And Musicians). These idiots have got the government on their side, which ,makes it even worse.
Basically this bunch (SOCAN) was set up by a bunch of has beens and one hit wonders. They demand that monies be paid to them and those $$ are supposedly distributed amongst SOCAN members. Most (about 90%) of SOCAN members are people who have written some tunes, usually about rocks and trees, and clouds and that shrub nonsense, or stuff that nobody really wants to hear. Let's face it, when you go to a bar or pub/lounge to hear entertainment, you want to hear the music that excites you over the airwaves, not some crap written & performed by some 70's drop-out named Starchild, that you'd never listen to in the first place.
Anyhoo...the fees: establishments are requested to pay (to SOCAN) $29.00 if there's no dancing, $58.00 if there's dancing...go figure that one out.
So what a lot of places are doing, and it's a great idea, is to submit a bill to SOCAN to match the fees paid. This bill covers administrative fees (the issuing of the cheque).
Also SOCAN demands payment for music played in places of business like Dentist's offices, malls, stores, etc.
I contacted these people to ask, "if I do a night of playing, ie.Beatles, Elvis, 50's stuff etc." and if the estblishment has to pay this fee to SOCAN, are those monies distributed to the likes of McCartney, Elvis' estate, or Chuck Berry, etc? to which they said NO, the monies are distributed to SOCAN members, obviously after a skim off the top undoubtedly.
These people (SOCAN) are nothing but crooks, and they've got the government (henceforth the Law) on their side.
That's how it is in Canada, and because of our mousey politicians, that's how it's gonna be for some time.
So...in the meantime, keep billing it right back to them.
Just my thots....and concerns.

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...L