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Taylor Swift joins BMI to sue Idaho bar

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Is this an April Fools joke, even though it's not April???

There's no way any bar is going to play Taylor Swift songs.
 
Just for funsies (and for the ability to gratuitously sling ridicule):smoke:, my son and I watched a fair amount of the Country Music Awards this year. It was all Taylor Swift, all the time (oh yeh, and some Carrie Underwood). To me, the only artist on the radar screen at the CMA with talent is Keith Urban (still not my cup of tea, however).
 
I have a hobby bicycle shop at my house ,, retorations and repairs .. I play tunes all the time of my choice , can I get busted for playing music while I work .
 
ecandle said:
I have a hobby bicycle shop at my house ,, retorations and repairs .. I play tunes all the time of my choice , can I get busted for playing music while I work .
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Unless you have a business license, regular hours, and are hanging a sign outside it's very doubtful.
 
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Oh that is why I don't hear too much about her. I don't get my news on TV. That would be time wasted, that I could never get back...
 
butch4695 said:
I don`t understand . Can`t you buy a CD and play it in your establishment ?
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As Simi mentioned, no you can't. I've been in the restaurant and cafe business enough to know that ASCAP and BMI have goons they actually send out to make covert visits to bars, restaurants, clubs and other retail establishments they know do not have ASCAP or BMI licenses.

You'll never know they were there, and a while later, you'll get a letter "informing you of your responsibility" to their organization.

it's been a while, so I don't remember the exact requirements, but they have clearly defined parameters of who has to pay --- such as how "public" the space is, the number of seats (if it's a restaurant or bar), even the number of speakers you have hooked up etc.

I believe you can play the radio because they have already extroted their money from the stations.

Also, as someone mentioed, there has always been companies that will provide music for your establishment. One restaurant I worked in had some kind of tape machine that took these huge proprietary tapes. They looked like thin 8 tracks as big as a note book. It was a third-party somapny that came and rotated out stock of tapes evey month and took care of royalties.

Yes, this really is true; you cannot legally play a CD in your little coffee shop until you pay off ASCAP and BMI. And if you are, you might expect a visit from one of these "agencies"
 
Brett has it nailed.

Even the music you hear on "hold" can be costly. Rather than pay a monthly fee for generic "hold" music at my firm, we looped an instrumental played by the band of one of the firm's partners. Saves us about $200 a month (fee likely includes more than royalty fees).
 
My friend's cafe (of the old "commercial install" thread) has a commercial Dish Network account. They take care of the royalties, and he plays whatever music channel he likes. Nice deal - and cheaper than Muzak.
 
back in the 70s and until the early '90s, i played in various regional rock and country music bands. around '86 or so, one of the c/w oriented bars we played at got the 'letter' threatening a shut down or lawsuit (?) if the owner didn't pay up.

the bar had opened in '83 and apparently had never paid any ascap or bmi fees (don't remember which). apparently one of those 'goons' had paid the place a visit in the spring of '86. and this was out in the sticks of vermont, almost the proverbial 'middle of nowhere'.

the owner and a bunch of us band members got all excited for a day or two but in the end she (the owner) had to pay up or face whatever they do to 'offenders'.
 
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Pretty sad isn't it.. think of all the bars, eatin' 'stablishments, stores, companies with hold music, and any other place you can think of that plays music to a crowd.. then think of how much each one of those places pays a month to the goons... and then think about how hard artists are having to work to pay the bills... yeah.. where's all that money going?
 
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