quote: Louis Bornwasser

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Most classical music is royalty=free.

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Not really. The score may be PD, but the arrangement and recording are probably not. An exception to this would be pre-1980 (or thereabouts) recordings from the USSR and eastern European countries, which are, if not copyright-free, at least not really owned by anyone.

Production music is probably the best bet here. Note that some production libraries have "buy-out" licenses where you pay once for the records/CDs and can use them as much as you want. This is what you would want. Other production libraries use "needle drop" licenses, where you pay each time you use it.

The cheapest option is probably to buy a yearly ASCAP license, which lets you play any ASCAP recordings in your theatre. Another possibility that I have actually seen done successfully is to have an employee with musical talent compose and record a score written specifically for the theatre.
 

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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 01-11-2009, 03:20 PM:
 
Sirius and XM radio have a business plan that gives you a public license to re-broadcast their stations.
 

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Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 01-12-2009, 02:01 AM:
 
...what our small circuit uses is this XM/Sirius setup.

Only thing: better have control over the receiver, or just subscribe to certain stations. For if the staff have control over that receiver, they'll be playing what they want to hear (including "F" bomb music) and not caring what should be playing as decent background music (muzak style) for the public.
 

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Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 01-12-2009, 06:55 AM:
 
There are services that long predate Sirus/XM for music in public establishments (including, but not limited to Musak ).

Steve
 

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Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 01-12-2009, 09:14 AM:
 
The total fees for Sirius XM are less than the ASCAP/BMI fees are alone. Yes, individual channels can be blocked at time of contract negotiation. Louis
 

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Posted by Mike Croaro (Member # 3123) on 01-18-2009, 11:33 AM:
 
Hi Folks:

Back in the day of the Belmont Theatre (1989-1994, Belmont, CA) we never even thought of copyright issues. We used to transfer our favorite LP's to cassette tapes and play them in between movies!

Mike
 

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Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 01-18-2009, 12:25 PM:
 
I know up here you have to pay fees to the performers rights association whether you have any music or not since music in a film is not actually licensed to pay the royalties in the fashion that several pieces of international legislations require
Also having a live performer adds to the yearly license fee cost even if they play only their own creations
 

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Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 01-22-2009, 03:09 PM:
 
How things have changed. As late as the early 90s, Chakeres Theatres still used preshow music tapes in their KY and OH drive-ins. The ASCAP fee for this was $10 a year, per theatre.
 

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Posted by Rick Raskin (Member # 1561) on 01-22-2009, 04:15 PM:
 
I remember when we played the French language version of the film "Z" (1969 D: Costa-Gavras) at the KB Baronet the distributor sent a recording of the film music about a month in advance. Otherwise, it was KB policy to play only PD classical music during breaks.
 

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Posted by Sean Kapp (Member # 4839) on 01-27-2009, 11:58 AM:
 
We use the XM/Sirius setup. Monte is right about having access to the receiver.We currently only allow the staff to play 3-5 stations out of the ones we receive. There are defiantly some ones that wouldn't be good to play for the general public!
 

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Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 01-27-2009, 12:17 PM:
 
I just looked at the ASCAP licensing site. I guess it has to be so complex to be sure everybody pays for the potential benefit without being screwed excessively.

[ 01-27-2009, 07:23 PM: Message edited by: Bill Enos ]
 

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Posted by David E. Nedrow (Member # 4981) on 01-28-2009, 11:33 AM:
 
Re: ASCAP and BMI licensing...

I found it incredibly easy and remarkably cheap to license each of their catalogs.

I think I pay a total of $300/year for the right to play any of their stuff, including film scores, etc. That seems a cheap price to pay to be able to play actual music in the lobby/auditorium/&c.

I even worked out a deal with a couple of independent publishers that handle classic film score re-recordings, particularly for old horror and sci-fi scores.

If you really want to go PD, you could check out the production music scene. Sound Dogs is where I go for production music to use in my own ads and film/video work.

-David
 

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Posted by Geena Phillips (Member # 3726) on 03-10-2009, 11:51 PM:
 
How many screens do you run, David? When I inquired with BMI and ASCAP for an eight-plex, I was quoted some pretty stout fees.
 

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