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Like Jay-Z's 40/40 Club before them, the NY Post reports that two more Manhattan clubs are now being drawn into a lawsuit for playing music they didn’t have a license to play. With the music industry in an increasingly sad state, you would think getting the tunes out to the public (not for downloading or stealing but for the pure enjoyment of listening) would be a good thing. However bars are finding they have to pay the piper to play the songs, lest they want to end up in court.
The Hiro Ballroom (at least ASCAP picked the home of the rudest bartenders and most expensive drinks) got caught playing the songs "Jump" by Van Halen and "Hey Ya!' by Outkast, turning the good time tunes into a huge headache (just look at those heathens to the left illegally dancing to illegal music!). The fact is that companies like ASCAP and BMI exist to collect license fees for their artists. According to MarketWatch "nearly 90% of the license fees ASCAP collects are paid as royalties directly to songwriters, composers and music publishers. The balance covers ASCAP ’s operating costs, which are among the lowest in the world for a performing rights organization, and the lowest by far in the U.S." Word is that lower-level artists rarely see any money, as the companies often pool the collection and divvy it up amongst the big names.
The Post reports that "since March 2006, neither Manhattan club had responded to ASCAP’s requests to purchase a license to legally play the 8.5 million songs in its registry. A judge could penalize the clubs up to $150,000 for each song named in the suit." That didn't stop ASCAP from sponsoring a party at Hiro Ballroom in November of 2006, though! Eight months after the club was on their radar they sponsored a party there for the movie Marie Antoinette, and we're guessing songs from the soundtrack (which features ASCAP artists) played at least once (illegally and right under their own noses)!
The other New York club that got hit is Fusion 215 for playing Usher and Clay Aiken (actually, there should always be a fine for playing those two). In total 26 separate infringement actions in 17 states have been filed and the clubs are facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties. We've asked ASCAP for a figure on how much a typical NYC bar would have to pay for a license, and are still waiting for their response.
UPDATE: ASCAP sheds some light on this over at Brooklyn Vegan. Read their letter, here.
We've also been in contact with ASCAP and according to Vincent Candilora, senior VP of Licensing there, the average annual license fee for all bars, restaurants, nightclubs and similar establishments is less than $2.50 a day. With a maximum annual cost of $912.50 we wonder why any establishment would choose not to pay...
Photo via Justin Charles.
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"The other New York club that got hit is Fusion 215 for playing Usher and Clay Aiken (actually, there should always be a fine for playing those two)."
Jen Carlson wins this post!
that is utter BS!
It would be interesting to see a graph of the most money paid to ASCAP for the worst possible songs.
That is too funny ASCAP is suing nightclubs, getting pretty desperate.
When I managed a nightclub the ASCAP bills were laughed all the way into the trash bin. Their calls would languish on hold. In the time that a lawsuit would take, any nightclub has changed owners three times over.
Working for ASCAP must be pathetic. No more patheteic than much of the rest of the music industry.
Apparently they aren't just robots....
http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2007/08/a_letter_from_a_1.html
I'm sorry if I seem thick, but I don't understand this whole issue. Bars/clubs are supposed to have licenses for just playing pre-recorded music? Has this always been the case?
The right to public performance (including a performance of a recording) is one of the rights encompassed by copyright. Clubs and bars use the public performance of music to attract customers to their establishments and make more money. I don't understand why people object to having songwriters get paid for the use of their songs by establishments that are making money off of those very songs.
http://www.ascap.com/about/
as many artists & musicians in NYC, ASCAP and BMI are one of the few ways they can collect on their product (intellectual property). if your going to start a business, its your duty to know the rules.
having used to work for ASCAP, its not worth much of their effort to go after bars that just play a jukebox or ipod, but DJ's, karaoke, and live (cover)bands are what draw crowes to a venue and therefore owners use that to get asses in the door to pay covers, buy beer, make a profit. your neighborhood bar is less likely to get hassled if they don't do anything like that.
what a joke. stuff like this makes me want to stop buying cds (yes, i'm a dinosaur).
The dinosaurs running the music and film industries will take their dying business models to their graves. Hopefully sooner rather than later.
sooner or later all you CHEAP idiots are going to have NO MUSIC to listen to because everyone wants it free. Why should anyone write a song or sing if they are not going to get paid? Do you go to work for free? No, I thought not. You want a paycheck just like everyone else. BMI, ASCAP etc go after people so the songwriters, musicians and singers can get paid just like everyone else.
i didn't write this but i agree:
I understand why people don't want to pay for music -- who doesn't like free stuff? and if people could get away with it without any risk, they'd take anything, even if they didn't want it -- but I don't understand why they get upset when commercial establishments which are using songs to attract customers to make more money for themselves actually have to pay for the use of those songs. Do they all hold artists in such contempt that they enjoy seeing them ripped off? I don't understand when people started feeling as though they have the right to consume music for free? People who create music need money. If an artist wants their music to be distributed and performed publicly for free, then he/she likely wouldn't have chosen to sign with a label in the first place. Say you are a songwriter and a member of ASCAP. You make a deal with a band to record your song. Then Old Navy decides to play the record in their store. Do you think that Old Navy should pay ASCAP because they use your song in order to sell khaki shorts? yes. They are using the music to enhance their business. You are a songwriter who will not get a percentage of the master payments... So, you rely on performance fees, and for those fees, you rely on ASCAP or BMI to act on your behalf and claim those fees for you. If you feel like songwriters should not get paid for their work, perhaps you should start your own lobby group against paying songwriters. i'm sure at least then you'd get schooled and probably change your opinion. ascap isn't asking for unreasonable royalties. for what hiro ballroom charges for a drink and how much they feature music in their programming, i think they can afford to share some of the wealth. if you say that no one should pay money -- and we're only talking commercial institutions that use music to garner customers and business aka businesses that use music to make money -- then you're probably on limewire right now downloading albums for free. and that just ain't right.
"You want a paycheck just like everyone else. BMI, ASCAP etc go after people so the songwriters, musicians and singers can get paid just like everyone else"...
It appears you & others do not understand that ASCAP is the songwriters - read the article - they run the organization..it isn't a company you fools! I'm sure you like to get paid for working- compensate the creators otherwise music will die
I'm pretty sure the annual license fee most bars and clubs pay (or should pay) in this city is nothing in comparison to what people pay for drinks. I'd bet most places could pay the bill with one night of service. This one is really just dumb short-sightedness on their part.
No one is saying music should be free. The fact is that the actual musicians and songwriters get fucked over by the current system, systematically. The RIAA, MPAA, and ASCAP are middlemen leeches. They see that with today's technology, they are no longer needed really, at least not in the way the were needed before, which was to promote and distribute music. Musicians can now relate directly with their audience. So screw the music industry as it currently exists.
Also, for the record, all serious studies, ones not sponsored by the RIAA et al., show that peer to peer file sharing has actually HELPED music sales, which were already way down in the toilet BEFORE the file sharing and mp3 revolution began. It has been proven over and over again, that more exposure, and better yet free exposure, to music translates directly into increased sales. If the music industry controlled by the big labels hadnt been pumping billions of dollars into producing utter horseshit over the last 10 - 15 years, maybe sales wouldnt have been down in the first place.
File sharing has increased exposure of actually talented bands, bands that were ignored by the big labels in favor of such exquisit acts like N'Sync, etc. Again, when people download music and they like it, they tend to go out and buy the actual CDs. In other words, it's the most effective form of advertising, because IT'S FREE.
You dipshits don't realize this because you are zombies who dont think for yourselves and just swallow the crap that is being spoon fed to you by your myopic bosses. Your models are dead. The big labels will die, the money will flow directly to the artists, as it should. So it doesnt matter whether you think it's right or wrong, because nothing can stop the market, and the market has already decided. The more repressive you get in trying to keep your system alive, the more you piss off your customers. And as you should know by now, the customer IS ALWAYS RIGHT.
The labels and the music industry bosses should think about some new kind of product. Something you can hold in your hand that is not a redundancy of what's already amply available on the internet. (Of course, there is the niche market of having a better quality recording than an mp3, but that's audiophile stuff at this point, not mass marketing) After all, what is the advantage of buying a CD at Virgin Records or wherever? They must be having such discussions in-corporate-house...
Is it possible that they just don't have a clue? So far it seems that they are going down screaming and punching.
I agree with guest 15 that the artists are better off without the corporate exploitation in the interim. But corporate exploitation is adaptable to new technologies and open source vs. corporate control is not likely to evaporate so soon. Its probably just a matter of time. One modality of capitalism replacing another does not constitute a revolution. And a real revolution is a much better idea. Lets start imagining that.
A little vomit just came up in my mouth.
This isn't about downloading/file sharing. ASCAP wants you to pay just for playing the song... Even if you did pay for your copy.
Do cover bands have to pay too? Who keeps a log as to what is being played? Would the band/DJ pay, or the venue?
Crap.
ASCAP is not a company it is a membership group of songwriters - get it through your head
"With a maximum annual cost of $912.50 we wonder why any establishment would choose not to pay..."
I think the maximum could be higher, depending on the size of your establishment. And, to be safe, you can't license with just ASCAP -- you have to get licenses with BMI and SESAC too, and perhaps other small agencies will pursue you as well, in the off chance they represent one of the songs in your playlists. So, the fees are typically in the thousands of dollars for even a smallish bar, restaurant, dance studio, etc.
As a small tea house owner that only plays independent, local, or world music, I wouldn't want to pay because I know the fees WILL NOT reach these artists. BMI, ASCAP, and SESAC distribute these general public performance fees to the most popular artists only, based on a non-published formula that weighs in airtime popularity on their monitored radio stations.
So, Pop 40 will weigh in very high on the fee distribution. Yeah, Hiro and Fusion 215 would be foolish not to get licenses, as they for sure are playing "pop" music, but what about the smaller guys? If prefer direct pay for performance.
I paint houses. I get paid when I paint a house. Now I want paid everytime someone looks at or sees a house I have painted. Have you ever spoken to a member of ascap. Someone who is a struggling artist? Chances are they have never receive a penny from ascap and never will. All the money goes to the big names and they have made their money from recording contracts and record sales they don't need ascap. What a scam! and the whole world pays over and over ascap redistributes 90% of what they collect in revenue, not bad I wouldn't mind having 10% of 1.5 billion dollars, theives.