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FWIW:
I've watched artists in Canada filling out forms
after a gig to be sent to CAPAC (? is that right? Canadian equivalent of
ASCAP, anyhow), to ensure that their music got noted and they got their share of
the pie that seems mostly to go to Brian Adams and Shania Twain. They
included what they played that night, and who the composer, etc.,
was.
Is there an equivalent in the
US/elsewhere?
Dave O'Heare
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, May 21, 2005 10:43
AM
Subject: Re: OT: ASCAP/BMI and music
licensing
Doh! Repost this time to group!
***
All of this
would strongly suggest that there should be an alternative to
ASCAP and
BMI, yes?
This thread is one of the great reasons for this list to
exist IMNSHO.
I had thought in the past that BMI would be a better
candidate for a
composer/etc whose work leaned more towards
film-video-game-internet play,
as I'd noticed circa 1996 that ASCAP didn't
have much of a strategy
regarding anything more modern than
film-video-radio play. While this has
most likely changed in the
past nine years, the feedback from members of
both in this thread gives
one pause to consider.
I too object to the idea of non-played artists
I've never heard of being
able to be paid despite not being used. As
if joining ASCAP or BMI makes
one legitimately eligible for A Slice Of The
Big Pie - as unreasonable a
concept as the dinosaurs at the Musician's
Union would have us accept. If
nobody listens to my work it's still
my Art, and I don't feel that I deserve
to be paid just for existing; but
if someone uses it in a manner involving
some mode of financial profit, I
believe I have the right to compensation.
Period.
I accept of
course the fact that a good number of people who work in and
around the
music business consider it more of an Employment Medium than an
Entertainment or Artistic Medium, whether or not I agree with such
pathetic,
bloodsucking middleman tactics - and one has to navigate those
self-appointed Necessary Transactions if you're going to ever get even
Distribution, let alone compensation for use-play for your work. In
the
past I've had membership in either ASCAP or BMI presented to me in a
variety
of clothes, the most popular being "Don't you want someone to
defend your
rights to compensation?" (though once I unwisely asked why
that wasn't
"compensation for use of your work", as this is a different
thing
altogether). And while I'm rather solid about the rights of
the creators of
work, I'm not so sure I'm interested in someone
representing my work going
after something silly like in the case of the
Girl Scouts incident. On that
level, of strong defense of your IP
rights, one wonders if the owners of the
works-in-question have the
ability to decide whether someone like the Girl
Scouts can have free use
of the works, or whether entering into an
arrangement with ASCAP or BMI
means that you'll have to accept whatever
actions they perform, and keep
your mouth shut. If the latter's the case
then it's a bit of a
devil's contract, isn't it?
In the midst of all this, the Hunter S.
Thompson quote doesn't just make
sense. And it begs the question,
"Where else do you go for this?"
Stephen Goodman
* Cartoons about
DVDs and Stuff
* http://www.medialinenews.com
* http://www.earthlight.net/HiddenTrack
*
http://www.earthlight.net/Gallery
"Travis
Hartnett" <travishartnett@gmail.com> put
forth:
> The irony of these shops coughing up money to ASCAP or BMI for
a
> performance license, which often has nothing to do with the
actual
> performers in that shop (leaving aside the stuff played on the
CD
> player) yet still not paying the performers directly (the
usual
> coffeshop deal) is painfully humorous.
>
> Most
coffeshops don't have a dedicated performance area (such as a
> stage)
and just move a couple of tables out of the way to make space.
> Thus,
the number of paying tables available for the evening is fewer
> for
music nights, so the music has to justify an automatic income
> decrease
of say, fifty dollars from those tables over the course of
> the
night.
>
> But, life goes on.
>
> On 5/21/05, Ronan
Chris Murphy <looper@venetowest.com>
wrote:
>>
>> Ronan Chris Murphy
>> www.venetowest.com (Production &
mixing: King Crimson, Chucho Valdes,
>> Steve Morse, Terry Bozzio,
CGT...)
>> www.homerecordingbootcamp.com
(Workshops around the world teaching the
>> art and craft of
recording )
>> www.livesofthesaints.net (The
hottest ambient noise duo since Sonny &
>> Cher)
>> On
May 20, 2005, at 2:48 AM, Travis Hartnett wrote:
>>
>> >
I received an email from the booking agent at a local coffeeshop
which
>> > now requires all performers to play 100% original
music. Now, to me
>> > this is a good thing, but the overall
effect is chilling:
>> >
>>
>> I am not an
expert on this but some what well informed. Its really
>> pretty
simple, you pay a blanket license to cover all of the artists
>> that
BMI or ASCAP represent. Its apparent that the owner of the coffee
>>
shop in question did not want to pay this. You also have the right
to
>> not pay the blanket license and do a separate contract for each
song
>> played in your public venue, but that sure seems like a lot
more hassle
>> than a coffee shop pony-ing up a few hundred bucks a
year or less.
>> Music is an integral part of the experience of most
restaurants or
>> coffee shops and to pay a buck or two a day for
that hardly seems
>> unfair. They make more than that off selling me
one iced coffee.
>>
>> As a guy that makes 100% of his
living in music, I have to say I like
>> the idea of other business
that benefit from our labor, kicking in a
>> couple
bucks.
>>
>> Ronan (BMI composer and owner of Veneto West
Music,
BMI)
>>
>
>
>
>
>
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