hey, i took the plunge and asked a coffee shop im familiar with about going and playing/singing sometimes each week there, they used to have live music but didnt renew their licence and now dont do teh live music thing...but sounds like they want it back again...
i really need to know...when it comes to playing cover songs (which is what they mainly want) do i have to pay royalties? or is this covered in the fee they pay for the rights to live music in the first place?
i am a member of APRA (Australasian Performing Right Association) so i can claim royalties for nay of my originals that i have submitted to them...but as for covers...just dont know
i figure i should know what im talking about when i hear from them and get a tryout!
thanking you heaps people who answer me! :P
I am no attorney, but as far as I know, you can play any song you want without permission from anyone. I have been playing covers in bands for years and so do many tens of thousands of other bands.
Now recording a song that you wish to market is quite different.
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
I believe, at least in the US, it's the venue that pays when you cover a song, via their license fee.
Even in our church band where no one gets paid, we have to comply with copyright laws and can only do songs that are covered under our CCLI license.
"Everybody got to elevate from the norm."
Yeah, last year I was told that we were technically violating copyrights when we played some covers at an open, private party. I guess normally a bar or other venue is required to pay for an entertainment license which goes to cover royalties... something like that. But I was told that some places required you to only play originals because they didn't have a license. I'm really not sure how all of this works, these are just some nuggets that have been passed on to me.
"There won't be any money. But when you die, on your death bed, you will receive total conciousness. So, I got that going for me. Which is nice." - Bill Murray, Caddyshack ~~ Michigan Music Dojo - http://michiganmusicdojo.com ~~
ok thanks, i think whatever the actual legalities of it, if you go to play a gig AT a certain place, resturaunt, coffee shop...its all fine...and buskers play all the time, only covers, with no royalites...
