By Johnny Kincaid
Bud’s Rockin’ Country Bar and Grill is being sued by American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) because ASCAP says that they aren’t paying for the right to play music in public.
The suit filed by ASCAP named fifteen venues across the country is to recover fees on behalf of songwriters for use of their music.
Music licensing firms like ASCAP and BMI collect royalties on behalf of all songwriters.
Songwriters make their money from public performances of their songs, unlike performers who make money from sales of the recordings of the songs. A public performance happens anytime a song is played where other people can hear it. That might be a band playing the song on Saturday night, playing the song on the radio, or simply playing the song inside a business where customers can hear it. If your business plays music, ASCAP wants you to pay for the rights to that “public performance.”
As odd as that might seem, it is how talented songwriters make their money. According to ASCAP, the average cost for bars and restaurants to play music is less than $2 per day.
When I worked at a radio station in Reno, Nevada, I woke up to the headline in the newspaper, “KWNZ Sued by Lionel Richie, Bruce Springsteen, and Others.” The article went on to explain that ASCAP was suing on behalf of a dozen famous songwriters because we weren’t paying royalties. I don’t know if the station was avoiding their royalty payments or not, but by the end of the day the lawsuit went away.
The lawsuit against Buds and the other bars will likely also fade away now that a clear message has been sent to businesses everywhere to pay your music royalties.
