I'm of split mind over the "ownership" of songs.

On the one hand, if it's traditional (or an authorized performance of copyright protected material), it's up for grabs.

But on the other hand, "giving" a song performance to another group is sometimes a matter of more than just the show.

From the audience view, a band "giving up" a song that another band performs is usually better show. Trust me - not many audiences (barring St. Patrick's day drunken mobs) are really up for 5 renditions of "Wild Rover". To this end, usually if our group is going to be sharing a stage we check to try to avoid overlap.

From the group view, it's a mark of respect to a degree. If an established group that performs that venue regularly is on the bill, it's polite to at least ask if the song in question is on the night's set list, and then act accordingly. It's best if there's give and take on this - if a newcomer group uses a song on the established group's set as a "signature piece", while the established group just has it for filler material... again, it's polite to make way. By no means would I suggest it's required, and everyone has their limits (as I discovered when asked if we'd eliminate 2/3 of one of my previous group's list because another group "might" want to perform one or two of them).

My personal view is that I try to take it from the audience view. If it's a festival with several stages, or something where there's guaranteed high percentage audience turnover, then it really doesn't matter. 15 groups could do "Molly Malone" and noone is all that likely to care. If it's a restricted bill, or some other situation where the audience will very likely consist of the same folks from act to act, then I'd *much* prefer that as little duplication occurs as possible.

Unfortunately, a lot of performers seem to forget the audience on occaision. When there's a limited number of listeners, a person walking out of your set is likely not just leaving you - they're also walking out of every set that follows.

M