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RE: Now?
By Iaiken on 8/12/2011 12:47:37 PM , Rating: 2
And the loosers of this setup - the bar owner and the people sitting in the bar.

Nope, the loser in this setup is you, the consumer.

RE: Now?
By Solandri on 8/12/2011 1:47:27 PM , Rating: 2
The cost of the license depends on how many people the bar can accommodate, and how frequently the music is played. On a per-customer basis it actually isn't that bad (ranges from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars a year for most bars and restaurants). But it is an extra expense whose legitimacy is questionable if all you're doing is piping in a radio broadcast.

IIRC, there's an extra fee if your bar has live performances. With pre-recorded broadcasts, you just need to pay the RIAA. With live performances, you also need to pay the song composers and lyrics writers (they have their own enforcement arm). Actually, the band performing it is supposed to pay it. But if they don't, the venue also gets fined (they're the ones collecting the money from people who come to listen to the public performance). So most venues just pay a universal cover fee in case one of the bands they hire didn't know/didn't care/refused to pay.

