OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - When Aly Branstetter first got into the restaurant business, she wanted to add a musical mood to the place.
She didn’t know the rules, though.
“(Music) adds to the whole environment,” said Branstetter, who co-owns Hillbilly’s and other restaurants in the metro. “As a restaurant owner, you want to hit all the senses of your guests. Sometimes music is a supplemental message just adding to an experience.”
Like many other business owners with a come-and-go customer base, Branstetter received a note from a music licensing company warning her about federal copyright rules.
“It wasn’t even something we thought,” she told The Journal Record (https://bit.ly/2efonbl ). “When we were putting a business plan together, you don’t think to add in a couple thousand dollars a year just to be able to play music.”
She now licenses music from the two major firms, BMI and ASCAP. She deals with both because they represent different artists and songwriters, and doing so gives her access to a bigger catalog.
Branstetter said BMI was persistent but willing to work with her. Indeed, both companies boast that they try to avoid lawsuits.
BMI sued the Biltmore Hotel’s owner recently, claiming dozens of phone calls and letters from the licensing company went unheeded over the span of two years.
“We work with them really hard to try to educate them because a lot of businesses don’t realize it’s federal copyright law,” said BMI spokeswoman Jodi Thomas. “That’s why we take so long and call them and write letters. Legal action is the very last resort.”
Small bars and restaurants can buy a yearly license for about $350, but live music and cover charges can raise the price. The license fees are based on the business’ fire code capacity, said Vincent Candilora, executive vice president of licensing at ASCAP. He said ASCAP scours public records and the internet for new business openings. He calls it prospecting.
“When we learn of a new bar, restaurant or nightclub that has opened, if they’re using music the odds are extremely high that they’re going to be using music that has been created by ASCAP members that are in our repertoire,” Candilora said. “We go on the basis that if beer is being served, probably music is being served as well.”
BMI sued four businesses in the western half of Oklahoma during the past year. ASCAP files about 150 lawsuits across the country every year.
“The very last thing they want to do is to sue someone who’s using their music,” Candilora said of ASCAP’s board, which is made up of songwriters and publishers. “It’s not unusual for us to be contacting establishments for more than a year, and sometimes longer, before we have to take that last step.”
Steve Willingham of Clarity Coffee said he’s never gotten a letter because he knew about the rules before opening. He said the best model for his coffee shop was to use a third-party streaming service to handle the licensing fees, in this case Pandora, so he only has to pay a monthly charge.
“I don’t see why it would be frustrating,” Willingham said. “I think people deserve to get paid for the work they do.”
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Information from: The Journal Record, https://www.journalrecord.com
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