The Artful Jurist

In case you didn’t already know, when a venue such as a bar or a coffee shop or just about any commercial enterprise presents live musical entertainment, it’s that venue’s responsibility to acquire the licenses needed to allow those entertainers perform copyright protected music. No license is needed if the band plays only music it has written itself. But if it’s a “cover band,” that is, a group that plays music someone else has written and published, then the performance rights to that music is likely controlled and licensed by one of the three licensing entities—ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC. And those entities charge a blanket fee for the use of the music they control. Annually, it could be anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several thousand, depending on the venue.

Times being what they are, those licensing fees may be putting the pinch on some of the venues that have traditionally offered cover band entertainment and “open mic” nights for musical newcomers to stretch their artistic wings before an audience. An article in the Christian Science Monitor lamented that, because the owners can’t afford the licensing fees, some coffeehouses are shutting down their “open mic” nights, and there are fewer and fewer opportunities for the newbie artists to perform…unless, of course, they write their own songs.