Bonifay no music
 

I talked to the manager at Bonifay restaurant/bar Friday and he told me that they no longer will have live entertainment. He stated it would cost them thousands of dollars in fees because of copyrights for song writers and singers. I know of ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) and BMI (Broadcast Music Inc.) who can make bars with live music and juke boxes pay royalties. But when I called Evans Prairie, Lopez, Terra del Sol they are still having live music. I understand that these organizations have the right to collect licensing fees from users of music created by their members, but how come Bonifay is the only restaurant/bar being singled out, or are the other restaurants/bar and town squares just paying what they should and are keeping quite about it.

Every country club makes a judgment about what brings in crowds (and money). Some find music more of a draw than others.

I'm glad that not all insist on music. Sometimes I want a quiet dinner without the noise. We stopped going to one country club specifically because of load music.

AMEN!!

(And I think bizdoc meant "loud" music.)

i wonder what the real fees are? what do these organiztions charge, i always enjoyed the music there, i wont be back till they bring back the music. lots of other places to go to!

ASCAP/BMI & SESAC charge radio stations based on their commercial billing. I am guessing that they charge bars and clubs on somewhat the same basis. My music licenses at one radio station I ran cost me $28,000 a year. It can be a heavy expense.

Bet the neighbors are relieved - remember a post from a while back the music was bothering folks trying to enjoy an evening on their lanai.

It's a little late now but I wish the Country Clubs had designed a bit more privacy into their dinning rooms. Perhaps the new one and last one on Morse will?

:agree:

As far as the fees to the bars,they need to tell these associations to collect there fees from the bands. As a band they are playing the music that has copyrights, therefore they are responsible for the copyrights. The band is a private contractor that contracts their music with the club. If you are a DJ you have to prove you downloaded your music legally and payed a fee usually about 99 cents. When ASCAP or BMI asks about copyrights with my band I explain to them that we bought the sheet music for the songs and therefore had payed the copyright at that time. They leave us alone. It's a big shakedown and if you let them intimidate you they will. P.S. If it's too loud, your too old !!!!!!

I think the problem is with karaoke types (either singing or playing an instrument with background music) and not paying royalties.

Live bands can play all day and no one is going to question them UNLESS they are the direct draw as in a show. Then ASCAP will be on them.

Most of the music played in the squares is "in the public domain" anyway.

Remember, you can sing a Willy Nelson song all day and no one will bother you.
But if you throw on some background music or vocals...well, someone is trying to make a living making those disks.

Having spoken directly to ASCAP recently, I can tell you that "buying the sheet music" does not give you performance rights. I'm surprised ASCAP would have asked about copyrights with your band, since ASCAP & BMI never charges the performer, always the venue at which a performance takes place. And as a performer, I don't think it's a shake down. It's the way the writers of the music get paid for their intellectual property. The venues are the logical place to charge for a number of reasons, some already mentioned in previous posts. Theoretically at least, if a venue hires a band or musician, even though the performer is paid, the expectation is that the venue is making even more of a profit than if they had not hired the performer. If not, they would cease to offer music.

Petrina is scheduled for every Thursday evening at Bonifay. She starts this coming Thursday.

I can't remember the last time I heard something being played in the squares that was from the 15th century. The music being played in the squares is music from the 1950's- to the present and the majority of it is in no way "Public Domain".