The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #104674 Message #2148264
Posted By: GUEST,highlandman
13-Sep-07 - 09:44 AM
Thread Name: Paying to have open mike session
Subject: RE: Paying to have open mike session
Anahata, thanks for the clarifications.
In the US (excepting possibly where there are some local regulations) there is no license required for simply performing music of some kind, therefore a musician performing a piece which he/she owns is perfectly within the law, and ASCAP doesn't care about it. (There are other licenses and fees involved in operating public accommodations, but music performance per se is irrelevant to these.)
The "stadium" concert was admittedly hyperbole (my wife tells me a million times a day to stop exaggerating). I'm not going to take the time to look it up, but if I recall correctly there was a seating number, perhaps 2000, referred to on the ASCAP site. A small stadium then. :-) The point remains that only the big guns (Sir Paul and Eddie Van H) are likely to ever earn back their membership fees from ASCAP. BMI is a little more mid-list friendly, but not much.
McGrath, in US law churches are exempt from performance royalties if the music is used in a worship service. Concerts are not exempted, and if the service is recorded or broadcast, royalties apply. There is NO exemption from mechanicals if copies are made or the words are projected on a screen, which is unfortunately a common form of abuse in US churches.
Cheers
-Glenn