Actually, T, I am sure that I receive nothing of the venue licensing fees that you refer to. BMI seems to claim that this is what pays the cost of their other copyright enforcement on my behalf, which doesn't keep them from taking half when they do collect something on my behalf. I don't like the system, but I can't go around the world trying to collect on my own; would love to see a better system. As far as the venue licensing cost filtering down to us all, I am certainly on the side of starving producers as well as artists, but the last time I checked, the yearly BMI license is less than $300 per year (I'm not sure that it hasn't gone up), but anyone running a business that can't afford this price is not doing very well at all. If they tell you they can't afford to have music because of this cost, ask them to show you the actual cost per patron per cover charge per night, and you will find that it adds practically nothing. This is a way that I have seen certain unscrupulous venue operators try to bully performers into taking less for their performances, or to raise ticket/cover charges far beyond what is called for under the circumstances they cite. The business part of the music business is one of the most consistently dirty businesses in the world.

Chet