Alphabet Soup

By Sue Sawyer (Part 3 of 3)

Thanks to the Internet, information regarding the music and karaoke business is no longer a quagmire. No more phone nightmares of waiting on hold to speak to someone. Since cyberspace technology has been made relatively easy to access, finding out which agency covers what for legal guidance, support and “how to’s” is at your fingertips.

Agencies in the music trade are identified by initials. With so many of them, it’s like cooking “alphabet soup.” The big three: ASCAP, BMI and SESAC gather music licensing info, collect song royalties and distribute the collected money back to their members for which it was collected. ASCAP, a non-profit, collected about $104 million during 2007 from venues across the USA. All of it paid people like Diane Warren who makes her living writing songs, some for Celine Dion. Diane doesn’t have a record deal, doesn’t go on tour or sell CD’s or T-shirts and hats. She makes a living by having her songs performed in public places such as bars and taverns. Society’s annual fees are determined by venue size and whether they routinely host live music or karaoke. ASCAP would rather educate the public than have to go after businesses in court for their fees. They do it as last resort. In 2007 ASCAP sued about 200 venues throughout the USA. KAPA (Karaoke Anti-Piracy) www.karaokeantipiracyagency.com is the group that is most associated with karaoke’s business behavior and “whistle blowing.”

These dot-com’ers have Web sites that include spelling out their full names, cover every aspect of what they do, answer questions and provide additional links to places you may need to go. For example: RIAA (Recording Industry of America), www.riaa.com, is where their members create, manufacture and distribute all legit sound recording made and sold in the USA. They educate, police and help write policy and laws to protect the ability of the recording industry to invest in new brands, new music and rightful use of digital space.
AFM (American Federation of Musicians) www.afm.org, protects performer’s rights. A service company that will work for the public to figure out royalty fees, and research who to pay and to do it is The Harry Fox Agency, or harryfox.com. Also a music law firm, they are worth the few cents added to royalties to do the job for the singer, musician or producer saving time and energy on research.

Support groups such as SGA (Songwriters’ Guild Of America) www.songwritersguild.com; www.filmmusic.net and www.musesmuse.com are very useful in education and feedback for song writers. Another big one is www.craftofsongwriting.com. VLA is there for musicians and artists (Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts) www.vlany.org or phone 212-319-2787, ext. 1 for chapter locations. Country writers and musicians gravitate to NSAI (Nashville Songwriter’s Assoc.), www.nashvillesongwriters.com. Not to be outdone, www.memphismusic.org is the site support for indie musicians. Christian music has their site too, www.christiansongwriting.org or www.indiebible.com.

No matter how you fit in the music scene, even if you are getting your feet wet with karaoke, take the time to read publications associated with the aspect you enjoy and explore the Internet to learn more about how the music system works in our country. Being “blind-sighted” to potential problems is no option.