# Could Paul McCartney sing his own Songs?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-paul-mccartney-sing-his-own-songs/469217>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [October 23, 2008, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-paul-mccartney-sing-his-own-songs/469217 "2008-10-23T15:47:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2008, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-paul-mccartney-sing-his-own-songs/469217/22 "2008-10-24T20:53:07Z")

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It’s not the bar _band_ that has to pay. Any business that offers music as part of its package of entertainment, whether it’s live or recorded music, has to pay royalties. There’s an exception for a place that is playing music on stereo equipment that’s no more elaborate than someone might have at home.

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**Author:** ![regginbrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ba9def/32.png) [@regginbrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/regginbrow)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2008, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-paul-mccartney-sing-his-own-songs/469217/23 "2008-10-24T21:08:47Z")

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> [@acsenray](#):
>
> It’s not the bar _band_ that has to pay. Any business that offers music as part of its package of entertainment, whether it’s live or recorded music, has to pay royalties.

This is correct. I believe bars that have live music must be a member of ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) in order to legally have cover bands perform without running into any copyright violations.

> **[American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASCAP)**
>
> The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) (/ˈæskæp/) is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadcasters, and digital streaming services (music stores).
> ASCAP collects licensing fees from users of music created by ASCAP members, then distributes them back to its members as royalties. In effect, the arrangement is the product of a compromise: wh...

> [@](#):
>
> ASCAP collects licensing fees from users of music created by ASCAP members, then distributes them back to its members as royalties (BMI has a similar method for its members). In effect, the arrangement is the product of a compromise: when a song is played, the user does not have to pay the copyright holder directly, nor does the music creator have to bill a radio station for use of a song.

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