Pay to play: Strict enforcement of copyrights jeopardizing live music in small venues
Times must be even tougher than we thought if ASCAP and BMI are sending out agents to tiny-ass coffee shops with their Shazam-loaded iPhones trying to bust up Mom and Pop for their performers playing unlicensed music.
Part of me thinks this is just a market effect driving the last nail into the coffin for small venues having live music. The other part of me thinks its a little totalitarian for a PRO to just presume that unlicensed music is being played and preemptively threaten legal action if the owner doesn’t buy a blanket license.
