Many in Athens might dread the $5 cover charge at a venue’s door to see a local band perform, but the owners of the venue are paying certain companies more than $3,000 in yearly fees to host the acts.
Broadcast Music Inc.; the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers; and SESAC each represent hundreds of thousands of songwriters and publishers that play on every medium available.
Almost every artist, including wider-known acts such as Taylor Swift and popular local bands such as Southeast Engine, is represented by one of the three companies. The companies collect license fees from businesses that use music from an artist they represent. They then distribute the fees as royalties to members whose work has been publicly performed, according to the BMI website.
The fees, which can be steep, are required for any public playing of the music, including background music in restaurants, a live cover at a bar, or even a city event with live or recorded entertainment.
Casey Smith, an account associate at BMI, said the fee for BMI can range anywhere from $300 to $10,000 per year for the biggest establishments in the world. It varies based on several factors, including size of the establishment, maximum occupancy (as determined by the fire marshal), and whether there is dancing.
Chris Pyle, owner of Donkey Coffee and Espresso, 17 1/2 W. Washington St., said he pays about $3,500 a year for live entertainment and recorded music at his shop.
Donkey Coffee has a screen by the cash register that tells patrons what song is currently playing. Even though the songs come from Pyle’s personal collection that he has purchased throughout the years, he said he still has to pay the yearly fee to play the collection publicly in the coffee house.
“My whole problem with this system is that the artist gets ripped off and the small business guy (does too),” Pyle said. “We’re advertising for all these artists that we love, and most of them are underground people that never get a cent.”
Pyle’s fee is also inclusive of the live entertainment the shop puts on during weekends. Even if the group is playing all original songs, eventually covers will be played that are owned by one of the big three.
“Almost everything we play in the back room is a local artist,” Pyle said. “Even some band who has their work through BMI or ASCAP isn’t going to get paid a cent of that money. It’s a scam.”
Many local bands, such as The Ridges, have decided to pay ASCAP not for the royalty checks, but for the legal protection they would receive if one of their songs was ever used in a commercial, a movie or for a TV show.
Victor Rasgaitis, front man for The Ridges, said he likes having ASCAP for any hypothetical legal situations that might arise, but added that his band doesn’t receive royalties from ASCAP for its performances.
BMI does have a way for local artists to turn a profit. BMI Live is a program where BMI affiliates can record information about their live performances and be considered for quarterly payment, Smith said.
“All the up-and-coming songwriters can log into their account and let us know when they played,” Smith said. “By letting us know that, they will get a royalty. Will it be a big fat check? No, but it is a way of starting the process.”
Mark and Hilarie Burhans, two owners of Restaurant Salaam, said they decided to forgo paying the three companies directly and instead pay for Pandora for Business by DMX, which costs a $25 monthly fee to Pandora that in turn pays the three businesses. It is the same process for services such as satellite radio.
The Salaam owners said when they had to stop using live music in the restaurant after making the switch, they started to receive phone calls from people asking whether there would be live music. When they looked up the phone number, the call had come from an attorney’s office.
“You have to pay all of them, and if you don’t, they’ll take you to court, and you can’t win,” Mark said.
Hilarie added that if a venue doesn’t pay, the companies “will watch you constantly.”
An incident happened to the Blue Gator, Pyle said, which has been closed since 2008. The Blue Gator had to contend with a $200,000 lawsuit, which never made it to court after a settlement was arranged. Pyle said that was part of the reason it was shut down.
“When people take (BMI, ASCAP or SESAC) to court, they always win, because people have no money,” Pyle said. “I think if you had some lawyer that really wanted to go for it, you would find that (the publishing rights companies) would lose.”
wh092010@ohiou.edu
