I have a question of those who run music venues in the US.

Does a rule that requires performers to stick with original material allow you to avoid having to pay generic royality fees for copyrighted material? My understanding is that that the sponsor is responsible for such fees if there is a live performance of registered material.

If the answer to this is yes, then that would help explain ratio between singer-songwriters and performers of the material of others. (I realize that this also involves the question of distinguishing between material in the public domain and not, and I hope I haven't opened the door to thread creep away from how my question impacts opportunities for singer-songwriters.)