What You Need to Know to Play Music: A Transparency Issue
Why transparency is key to building a better music marketplace
Thousands upon thousands of America’s businesses use music to enhance the ambiance of their venues and attract customers. Even more incredible, of those businesses, an exponentially larger number struggle on a regular basis to understand the arcane set of rules and procedures that allow them to legally play that music in their establishments.
To play music, businesses must navigate an intricate labyrinth of acquiring performance rights for songs from, at least, four different Performing Rights Organizations (PROs). As of right now, BMI, ASCAP, SESAC, and GMR are the largest of the four licensing collectives, but their numbers continue to grow. Recent legal actions by ASCAP against bars and restaurants nationwide, coupled with their ongoing proliferation plus the system’s lack of transparency, underscore the urgency and complexity of this issue.
Every PRO offers different blanket licenses covering music ownership and licensing information in a patchwork of incomplete and overly complicated catalogs and databases.
ASCAP and BMI have a joint database that allows a business owner to search for individual songs. It’s a helpful place to start a search to figure out which licenses may need to be acquired based on the music that you play in your venue. But it can’t be relied on for making licensing decisions. In fact, it has a legal disclaimer saying as much.
This lack of transparency leaves businesses in a catch-22 situation: face legal liabilities, choose to buy a license from all of the PROs (both large and small), or stop playing music altogether.
This lack of transparency hurts the businesses that want to play music for their customers, and it also hurts artists and communities. When business owners can’t find or afford the right licenses, artists lose out on opportunities to share their craft and earn a livelihood. The public then also loses out on opportunities to come together and enjoy music as a community.
Fortunately, the solution to the current problem isn’t extremely complicated. Let’s continue to work towards a transparent, fair, and efficient licensing system that makes it easier for businesses to legally play and pay for music for their patrons. That would be good for all. The path to change is long but achievable, and understanding the complexities of the current system is the first step.
To learn more about these issues and how to navigate the intricate world of music licensing, visit us at mic-coalition.org.
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