Music licensing fees at Studio 99
Monday, June 14, 2010 at 01:57AM 
A great article appeared in last week's Boston Globe about the licensing fees which must be paid by all music venues to PROs (performance rights organizations) such as ASCAP and SESAC.
"With the music industry in steep decline, PROs are ramping up their pursuit of the little guys..."
I both agree and disagree with this statement. The "record industry" is going through a phase of fundamental change, with major labels shrinking, going out of business, or consolidating into just a few gigantic multi-national corporations (at last count, we're now down to six --- and by contrast there used to be 200 independent "major" record labels.) At the same time, the MUSIC industry is actually still alive and kicking --- aided by the benefits of promotion via the internet, increasingly affordable recording and CD production options, smaller, more nimble boutique labels which are truly responsive to the needs of the artists they represent, etc. (For far more information about this death and re-birth of the music scene, please watch the critically-acclaimed documentary film Before the Music Dies.)
Many of the artists that Studio 99 features are "self-publishing" --- i.e., they are not represented by a label and their works are not licensed by the PROs.
However, for Studio 99, licensing fees add up to hundreds and hundreds of dollars a year. The fees are based on the number of nights weekly, on average, that we feature music.
As a working musician, I fully understand why these fees are important. I have several friends who are active composers --- and who receive checks from ASCAP, etc., on a regular basis, compensating them for performances of their work.
However, both ASCAP and SESAC's venue fee tiers do NOT reflect the realities facing the smallest music venues. On average, the smallest possible fees assessed by these PROs are for venues which seat fewer than 500 or fewer than 1000 --- which means that Studio 99, with a capacity of 50, pays as much in fees as a much larger venue, such as the Portsmouth Music Hall. There is no sense of proportion here.
I've been collecting ideas from our wonderfully knowledgeable audience regarding how to address this issue. Please read the article, and I look forward to hearing from more of you!
Thank you,
Elise MacDonald
Studio 99
Reader Comments (1)
Great post! Collecting licensing fee is such a double edge sword for the musicians. Less music gets played at venues all over now because of stricter regulations