Karaoke Forums

Last week, according to a manager at a place where we had played, BMI came and requested to see the establishments karaoke licence. Well, unfortunately the establishment had not paid it, even though we had been playing there for a few months. BMI, also went to the establishment next to the other one and shut down there karaoke also. Now, I live in Tomball, Texas which is near Houston. Is there any way to find outwho that person was and if the person was in fact fromBMI? The person left no name or card.

To the best of my knowledge, there is no specific karaoke license anywhere in the US from any organization.

BMI collects fees to cover licensing to play music in bars, restaurants and other establishments. There are different fees for different things, but most venue owners I have spoken to get blanket license agreements because throughout the year they will have karaoke, cover bands, original artists, and other events where music is played.

I would have the venue owners contact BMI to get it straightened out.

-Chris

_________________
-Chris

Actually Chris, if you look at the BMI fee schedule, it DOES separate the different fees for each function ( Bands, Bands with cover charge, Jukebox, more than 4 TVs, and karaoke, etc...) along with how many nights per week per function. The fees are based on per person occupancy per year.

Going from memory ( so approximate ) it's $2.75 per person occupancy for one night, and something like $3.10 for 2 nights.

So if the bar has 100 person occupancy it's somewhere around $275.oo - $310.oo per year for 1 or 2 nights of karaoke alone. Seems worth it to me ( assuming I exclude the fact that BMI has to get sued by the artists quite often for them to get their cut).

_________________
"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

Was wondering because the owner said that he would pay the, what he said was $800.00, when the climate here gets cooler so we could do karaoke there again. Don't know about the establishment next door since BMI nabbed them, too. I suppose I will have to ask the manager if the so called BMI person actually left a card or a name. All we know is that the manager said that they better not have karaoke there any more until they pay that money. The establishment has an internet music but we were the first to do karaoke there. We were actually doing it 3 times a week.

you should ask if the owner is already paying ascap fee's... cause if he is then you don't have to do the bmi licensing and you just have to tell them you already paying ascap for the same thing....

_________________
It's all good!

ASCAP and BMI represent different principals. You need both in all likelihood, and probably SESAC, too.

Most people fly under the radar with SESAC, but I have seen a couple places get dinged by them. It would at least be *possible* to bar their artists, though Florida karaoke couldn't survive as they carry Neil Diamond.

I have also heard lots of complaints that SESAC wants a very lot of money, all out of proportion to their list of artists. They should cost 20% of ASCAP if that.

_________________
[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

SEASAC is on the prowl now, too. One of my venues is getting called by them and trying to negotiate a fee that is in proportion to what they do.

Sorry, BMI is just one of 3. ASCAP and SESAC also need to be paid by the clubs.

_________________
LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

I would definitely call BMI if I were that club owner/manager. I have never heard of a visit from either BMI nor ASCAP that didn't leave some kind of literature.

_________________
LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Could be the owner is just trying to ease you out the door......

http://torrentfreak.com/bar-hit-with-45000-fine-for-pirated-karaoke-songs-130716/

is this the one?

Well either the bar manager is full of horse... or incompetent. Unfortunately with bar managers sometimes it's hard to tell the difference.

As for anyone coming into a venue and claiming to be someone in authority, the first thing the manager has to do is demand identification. Legitimate persons will show their IDs without any problem. If someone claims to be from somewhere, call that somewhere up and confirm.

_________________
You can be strange but not a stranger

What does SESAC even have besides show tunes? I doubt I even get anything they;ve licensed sang on an average night...

Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, Willie Nelson...

One thing this article makes clear is that a through investigation was done. The person conducting this investigation listed specifically the tracks and provided detailed information. Something that both SC and PR should learn from, as they attempt their own legal process. Also this should show that the publishers if they get involved have quite a bit more clout than the manus. Also if a person is informed of pending action they should first check to make sure the investigation is legit, and then do everything necessary to bring the show into compliance before having to go to court.

Well notice the huge difference - nowhere in the article does it mention that they were allowed to buy product or subscribe to a service to dodge the fine. If I start seeing folks get smacked with real money fines, I'll be the next one to raise my hand in support of Sound Choice. If I were active in the karaoke business, I'd be furious to see track pirates caught and then, as their punishment, set up in business with the best content available to compete against me.

Mr. Harrington, take a note here, many pirates own cars, houses, have money in the bank - hit them with some real financial hurt and watch things start changing fast. Stop the investigations as a sales process.

"Suites drive sales" those are Kurt's words.

_________________
I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

That is the real life situation. The manus really don't want to put the pirates out of business, since this is their future customer base. The certified hosts and legal operators have already bought their product, and don't need more. This leaves the pirate through the fear of being sued to decide to license GEM or subscribe to Cloud. I know that really there should be a Chinese wall between WWD/PR/CB and DTE. There has got to be some kind of connection or repayment to WWD/PR/CB and DTE otherwise why would getting Cloud head off a legal suit? There would be noting in it for the recovery agencies. Not to mention the court itself has limited the awards granted to SC to the fair retail value of the product no court costs.

The reason the offending venue and host were not allowed to buy product is the publishers don't make product, the manus do or at least did. What they got smacked for is not karaoke infringement, but rather simply not paying the fees to use the music commercially, to the publishers who represent the various artists. The suits are what is being used as a sales process, the investigations have to be done regardless. Except in the case where investigations were claimed to be done and no evidence was produced that they ever were, at least by APS.