09/29/2025
It is a bit of a read but Trish puts things into words that can bring awareness to those that may not know the behind the scenes of music entertainment. She mentions bands but this also applies to DJs.
Here is a perspective from a DJ:
We cannot obtain a license with either BMI or
ASCAP. We do have to ask that venues that we are hired to play at have one for any type of event.
NO we cannot stream from Spotify or YouTube or other streaming services due to their licensing rules. If you didn’t read the fine print, “music is not to be used for commercial use”. We purchase EVERY song that we play whether it be a music track or karaoke track. We are being paid to play music which is considered commercial so therefore we need to pay royalties through song purchases.
There are repercussions involved if we do play at a venue that does not have licensing such as a fine given or seizure of equipment to investigate that we have paid for our music.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. When you ask about our pricing, please keep this in mind. We also have other expenses, as any business has, such as insurance, maintenance, state reporting fees, taxes, etc.
We enjoy what we do to bring music and entertainment to people. Please be kind to entertainers and venue owners.
Good morning!!! Many of you know that owning my bar has been a lifelong dream. I’m incredibly passionate about it. But, it’s also been a huge learning experience! Had I known in my earlier years the things I know now, my attitude and appreciation would have been much different!
I’m an open book, and believe knowledge can profoundly change our outlook and perspective. Did you know that if a bar wants to consider itself a music venue, have bands on a frequent basis, and market those bands (which is vital to the success of both the establishment and musicians), it must legally obtain licenses from BMI (Broadcast Music Inc) and ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers). To make a painfully long story short, BMI and ASCAP collect royalties on behalf of all the musicians they represent and ensure they receive “fair” compensation for the use of their work. Yes, bars pay so the local musicians can sing. We even pay a fee for you to dance to their music!🤣
BMI & ASCAP find you in various ways. Social media has made it easier. They use public records to learn your square footage and capacity. That’s how they calculate your licensing fee. Naturally, because I live in my establishment, and they don’t know that, I’ve had to go round and round with them to help them understand that this entire place is not a bar.  it’s been time consuming and challenging, to say the least.
I’m only telling you this because I want some of you to understand that music venues not only pay the bands, hire extra staff and take big risks on a consistent basis, but also pay the licensing fees to bring you AWESOME entertainment!! The bigger the place, the bigger the bands, the bigger the risk, the bigger the fees.
So please, if you love live music and the places that bring it to you, take all this into consideration when enjoying them. It’s not as simple as one might think. Lastly, but most importantly, I appreciate you for helping keep my dream alive❤️🥰🐕
