Originally posted by Riceroni9:
I suspect this question has been asked before but do any of you ever encounter the song-gestapo from RIAA or any of the PRO organizations such as ASCAP or BMI trying to get your venue to cough up for having you play copyrighted songs? I've heard some real horror stories on this subject and wonder how it impacts you guys?
Thanks for your replies.
Dave Rice
I had the identical thing happen about 2 years ago at a Coffee House I played at. The gestapo gang pulls into town checks out the local newspaper entertainment ads then swings into action. ( pretty much what Russ mentioned).
In the case of the coffee house I played at, the owner worked out a revised lower payment. I wasn't privy to the details so I don't know what he worked out.
To add insult to injury the local zoning board came down on the guy since this marina area coffee house wasn't zoned for entertainment. Another 6 months went by and the guy was allowed to have music. It did however put a real damper on that end of his business.