Question about the music covered under the PRS Music Licence

yinhong

Hey MSE Board. Just wanted some advice about the PRS Music Licence if anybody knows about it. (For those of you who don't know, the Performing Rights Society are a company set up to basically make sure that anyone who plays any kind of music to the public gets charged money for it.)

I own a small chinese restaurant (which unfortunately is not doing very well) and we play some international chinese music in the background.

The PRS have called up recently saying that we need to pay for a music licence for playing copyrighted music. For me, it seems to be an extortionate amount, but that's besides the point. What I was curious about was PRS' statement that they "represent the owners and thus can get you the clearance you need". The also go on to say: "If you want to check the repertoire covered by MCPS and/or PRS please visit ISWC's database: http://iswcnet.cisac.org/ISWCNET-MWI/logonPublic.do "

Since we basically only play 2 albums (we're that quiet as a restaurant at the moment) and they're both non-popular chinese music I'm pretty skeptical about whether the PRS covers it. I have tried searching the ISWC's database but I'm only using the english translation of the chinese songs so, as you'd expect, it didn't turn up in their database.

Would you say that in this case, we won't require a PRS music licence?

p.s. the timing of this is a kick in a teeth for us cos I think we'll be closing the restaurant in the next few months.....

Fran

You might get some useful help/info from this chinese music forum.

Bismarck

Is the music you're playing copyrighted anyway? IS there anything on the sleeve notes for the music that you can search under?

How long does the licence last for if you do decide to do it and how much is it compared to your other running costs?

yinhong

Thanks Fran - I'll have a look.

The music we're playing IS copyrighted already but, as I said in my original post, everything (including sleeve notes) that I tried did not show up in the ISWC's database. I guess I'll only really know for sure if the PRS decide to call again or have a pop round.

I don't know how much the licence costs - didn't want to tempt fate by entering company details to get a quote on their website. Research online suggests it's going be in the vicinity of £200 - £300. Whilst I can understand that this (stealth) tax isn't going to pull us into bankruptcy, at the moment at least, we are trying to minimize our losses.

I'm gonna wait and see what the PRS does - whether they call back or send us a letter is still be determined. Until then thanks for the advice so far. I hope that I won't have to raise this thread up again!

Fran

Just a thought but can you play some non copyright stuff for now? I'm just thinking that you get charged per play (or doesn't it work like that?). Just so you don't incur any extra expense that you don't need to.

richt71

I'm not sure if I can help but I managed principle stores in the early 90's and many stores got into trouble for not playing their own background music but the latest cd someone had bought. It was due to the fact the stores didn't have a license to play non owned music. Might have changed since then of course.

yinhong

Fran wrote: »

Just a thought but can you play some non copyright stuff for now? I'm just thinking that you get charged per play (or doesn't it work like that?). Just so you don't incur any extra expense that you don't need to.

Thanks Fran. I've been exploring this idea but I can't seem to find appropriate music that isn't copyrighted (online or offline). I suppose I could just purchase any old non-copyright music but it'll just sound very silly i.e. it's not a compromise I'm willing to make.

richt71 - I think its the same idea but since the boom of online downloading I think the PRS are getting very desperate and are going round to anyone and everyone they possibly can to suck every last penny they can from us. Some people may disagree................. but they are wrong.;)

p.s. I don't want to get off subject but I found something in research which made me laugh in disbelief: did you know that the song 'Happy Birthday' is actually copyrighted by a subsidiary of AOL Time Warner? This means that whilst you can sing 'Happy Birthday' at your own birthday party, anywhere else such as a birthday celebration at a Restaurant would mean that you are breaching copyright laws and thus would technically incur penalty charges! Of course the solution for this worldwide problem is.......*drum roll*...... to purchase a PRS Music Licence!:T

F1F1

There are tarrifs online. For restaurants -
http://www.mcps-prs-alliance.co.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/PPS%20Tariffs/Tariff%20HR.pdf

What if the music you play is not from the UK? -
http://www.mcps-prs-alliance.co.uk/about_us/yourquestionsanswered/Pages/WhatifthemusicyouplayisnotfromtheUK.aspx

yinhong

£272.33 in my case then - that's £136.16 per cd then.

Gingernutmeg

My partner is a composer and a member of the PRS and although you think it's a rip-off to pay the fees, you have to realise how badly *most* musicians are paid, and how much music is written for 'free' in the hope that the composer/musicians can get some money from it through royalties - people don't value music at all, don't want to pay for it and if it wasn't for organisations like the PRS then people like my OH wouldn't be writing music. Also, composers and performers really don't make much money from performances and plays of their music, especially plays in restaurants. I appreciate you're annoyed at paying this fee but there is another side to the story.

The vast majority of music will still be in copyright, as it's not just the music that's copyright but also the performance (one is 75 years, one is 50 years, I'm not sure which way round, I think it's copyrighted to the composer for 75 years and to the performers for 50). Your only option, if you don't want to pay, is to buy some library music or 'copyright free' stuff, and play that. If you google copyright free music you'll find loads.

I would give the PRS a call rather than write - OH calls them frequently and they're always really helpful.