Performing Wrongs?
Every time a song is performed in public, a coin falls into a bucket. Performing rights, as they are called, are a major source of income for songwriters and recording artists. In a nutshell, when a TV shows plays a program with a song in it, they pay ASCAP/BMI/SESAC, the three performing rights societies in the US, a royalty. This royalty is on top of the original synchronization fee that the production company pays to use the song in the show. The majority of songwritersâ?? performing rights income comes from television placements but film, radio, online and in-retail uses also contribute. If you are a hit-song writer, then radio means a lot more than it does to an indie band whose song was on â??Greyâ??s Anatomy.â?
In the last month, both ASCAP and BMI have made the headlines for two very different reasons. First, ASCAP ruffled a gaggle of feathers by issuing a flurry of lawsuits against bar and restaurant owners for playing music without a license. ASCAP and BMI both offer annual blanket licenses to establishments to cover the right to publicly perform music in their respective catalogs. Public performance includes jukeboxes, cover bands, karaoke, that iPod playing your favorite songs in your store, etc.
Originally, the reports came in that a Tucson bar was hit with a multi-million dollar lawsuit by ASCAP â?? it was later reported to be around $210,000. But, there were about 15 other establishments who each got hit with a similar suit. Most of the establishments have since settled with ASCAP out of court for undisclosed sums. It is likely that the amounts they settled on are close to the standard yearly license (around $1K per location) rendering the lawsuit nothing more than a tactic to reach ASCAPâ??s ends.
One week ago, ASCAPâ??s biggest competitor, BMI released year-end figures showing revenue of $839 million, surpassing ASCAP for the first time. BMI attributes this increase to new revenue streams from digital media, cable and satellite systems and, you guessed it, record numbers from eating and drinking establishments. The music industry press has lauded BMI for these new numbers and BMI is routinely cast as the Robin Hood to ASCAPâ??s Prince John. However, a closer look reveals that BMI may just be catching up to ASCAPâ??s methods of shaking down local coffee shops.
So, the rhetorical question I leave you with is this:
As artists collecting revenue from ASCAP/BMI, do we have coffee on our hands?
