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True in most places -- not ours. We program a 20-25 min Preshow Concert, mostly movie scores and short classical pieces, much of it requested by our patrons (some even bring in their CDs). The program is an integral part of the whole show. It ends precisely as the WB cartoon logo hits the opening curtains w/warmer lights dimming. People come specifically to hear our preshow music concerts.

We run the CD L & R output through a Sansui Studio VarioMatrix Type II Decoder (used years ago in recording studios for Quadraphonic playback). It gives us Lf, Rf, Lr, Rr output (and I derive a L+R sum for the center channel to eliminate the center hole). Most music sources, even if they weren't mixed for quad, have plenty of ambient surround information so that the whole theatre is enveloped in the music. Our patrons love it. And they can still fart away and roll their bottles to the front (thanks for that imagery, Bill)

As for the legal BS, yes, ASCAP and BMI want their pound of flesh. Going with prepackaged services USUALLY relieves the theatre from any licensing burden, but not always. Instead of hassling with them -- they have pitbull lawyers who, if they decide to make an issue of it, will sink their teeth into you and won't let go until you are up to your eyeballs in legal fees and harassment with a capital H. We decided to just give in and pay the damn yearly blanket license fees. That allows us to play just about any music we want (between the two licensing orgs, they represent 90% of all recorded music out there) without even thinking about any royalty issues. The yearly fee isn't too bad, it is based on the number of seats in the theatre. But beware, these scum sucking parasites like to get paid two and three times for the same exhibition. We found out that they were going to many of the artists we book for our live shows, demanding that THEY pay a fee to perform any song covered by their rosters. They even tried to get a fee from the musicians playing for the same artist (musicians local flipped them the bird on that one). So they were getting paid a licensing fee from the artist as well as from us for the playing the very same song. I suppose we could fight it, but the Center decided it would cost us more than just eating the fee, besides, it was not my call. I think if I owned the theatre, I would fight it just on principal.

As for level....we set the non-sync the same as for the film -- full, robust, rattle your fillings and massage your prostate -- tactile sound level; after all what kind of hype would it be if on the lobby card you proclaim that the audience will hear a Preshow Stereo Concert from Digital CD in 6 Channel Total Surround MegaSound, and then play it as background musak?