The thing that makes a concert
venue a great one is…well, the music!
Whether the venue has a jukebox for patrons to select their favorite
songs or live bands performing on stage, music creates that upbeat and exciting
atmosphere. However, providing music in
a venue presents its own legal challenges.
These places need to obtain licenses for certain songs to be played.
Having a license, or at least
permission, to use a song in a video production, for example, make the most
sense. The song should be credited to
the original author because it’s now on a tangible medium that can be played
over again. Venues, without the proper
licenses, can actually get into trouble not only for containing songs on their
jukebox that are not covered, but also if a band performing one night decides
to play a cover song…crazy, I know!
Aside from organizations that
protect the rights of artists and songwriters when their material is used in
media, there are others that focus on the public performances. Performance Rights Organizations (PROs)
actively seek out venues to make sure that if they are having live music of any
kind that they need the proper licenses.
BMI, ASCAP, and SESAC provide venues with the proper permissions and
require an annual fee. These fees can
actually sneak up on the owners of small venues if they’re not careful. Earlier this year, BMI caused a few venues in Vermont to shut down their live music, which used to be an integral part of
their business and community.
The
point of my blog is to learn about how to open a music venue, as this is a goal
I would like to achieve one day. I’m not
having second thoughts exactly, but learning about the necessity of having
these licenses is definitely an eye-opener.
I never thought that there would be scouts out there that find out if businesses
house live music and, ultimately, harass them about paying their bills. Venues just starting out can probably get
away with it for a little bit, but even a small coffee shop that seats about 20
people and has weekly music performances can be hit with a hefty $1,000 fee.
This is
something that I find hilarious. Even if
a venue orders their musicians to play only original or public domain songs,
the venue is still required to get the proper licenses. Because, as BMI apparently stated in one
case, artists “own certain chords and chord progressions and [the venue] can’t
guarantee [their] performers won’t play those”.
If you don’t know how music works, with the multitude of music available
now, songs are bound to share the same chords and progressions. The Axis of Awesome shows a perfect example
of just how many popular songs have the same exact chordal structures. If this is the first time watching something
like this, you will be surprised…hope the guys in the video have the proper licenses…
