How do bands get money then? I’ve been to metal shows that cover older metal bands, so how does someone like Savatage get paid when someone else covers one of their songs? Does the bar have to keep track of every song that gets played? Or do these small bands just get ignored and not paid?
Also what happens if I own a bar and only play stuff that I’ve written? Do I still have to pay someone else to play my own music? Does everyone who writes music have to belog to one of these groups? I’m guessing this would be the same if I found some small band in Romania, who do I pay then?
I’ve seen ads in the music trades that brag about how BMI or somesuch keeps great track of the concert tours, the better to make sure you get paid if your song gets played. If a publisher/copyright owner (the publishers get paid for covers, right?) isn’t contracted with a fee collection service, I think it’s up to him/her to do the collecting alone, in which case I wish them good luck, because they’ll need it.
I’m not sure about bars, but even the teeny tiny college radio station I worked at reported songs played.
Are you the sole copyright holder, and the only person who would profit from the royalties? I guess it’s up to you the, but there are infamous stories of people like even the Beatles (IIRC) discovering that they owed money to someone else to play songs live that they had written. This is called getting hosed in the record deal.
I don’t think you have to belong to BMI or ASCAP, in the same way that you can go to work but rip up the paychecks if you really want. Of course, my buddy recording in his garage doesn’t belong to either, because he doesn’t expect to recoup any fees he’d pay. No one’s using his music. As for the small Romanian band, I’m lost. Does America automatically respect copyrights from all other countries? I wouldn’t be surprised. In a practical respect, it then becomes a question of whether you can even find out whom to pay, or even care to. Most people don’t.
Oh, and by the way, I’m fairly certain that you owe royalties for playing music on your company’s hold line on the phones. I remember KABC-AM (Los Angeles talk radio) discussing this on the air, saying this is why they make the on-hold callers listen to the live broadcast, because they’ve already paid to broadcast the bits of music they use, and they don’t feel like paying again just for the hold line. Again, this comes down to whether anyone can be bothered to sue Dr. Anthony’s Kiddie Dentistry for playing the oldies station through the phone, and the answer is that I’ve never heard of anyone who could be bothered when the payout was so small.
Ok, I have a question. What about all those jukeboxes? If I read those pages correctly, buying the CD does not mean I can play it just anywhere. If you have a jukebox in your bar, do you have to make a good faith effort, like joining BMI?
If the jukebox business is anything like the arcade business then the owner does not keep all the profits from his jukebox. I know that when my friend worked in a store that had arcades in it, a guy from the arcade company would stop by, collect all the quarters and then the store owner would somehow get a percentage of the sales.
I would assume that the jukebox located in your local bar does not belong to the bar owner and that the owner of the jukebox probably pays copyright fees.
I could be wrong though. In any case, someone should be paying for the rights to play copyrighted music on a jukebox.
All you need to know about jukebox licenses can be found here..
I once walked past a parked charter bus in downtown Austin. This was one of those huge buses with it’s own video system. Prominently displayed in the window was some sort of license saying that it was allowed to display recorded movies. I forget who issued the license, ASCAP, BMI, or even MPAA. I also don’t know if the movies had to belong to the bus company or a subscription service, or if passengers could provide their own movies. This bus wasn’t the sort that would run regular scheduled routes, but the sort that was available for charter runs.
Now here’s an interesting question…what about music that’s lapsed into the public domain??
I don’t ask this as a complete theoretical question. Living in West Virginia, a LOT of the local music is bluegrass/folk, most of the famous tunes of which have long since slipped into the public domain.
If a place books a bluegrass band that plays PD music, are they still responsible for an ASCAP/BMI fee?
Let’s not confuse performance royalties with copyright use fees. It’s been a while since I was in the business, but I believe ASCAP, BMI & SESAC exist to collect & distribute monies to composers and authors (copyright owners). The Harry Fox Agency handles mechanical syncronizations, or the performances tied to sound recording, movies, commercials, etc.
You can write a song and get royalties from the original composition if performed any anyone (or yourself). But if you perform a song, you are the artist, not necessarily the composer.
So it’s possible for a public domain composition to bring no money to the composer but performance royalties to the players.