Restaurants, Bars Consider Turning Off Music as Licensing Fees Skyrocket
The number of performing rights organizations has proliferated in recent years, leaving some venues struggling to pay fees for music
Every song played in a public place requires a royalty fee be paid to the songwriter.
Photographer: Lori Van Buren/Albany Times Union/Getty ImagesEver since operetta composer Victor Herbert sued Shanley’s restaurant in New York in 1917 to force it to pay for playing his song on a player-piano, songwriters and music publishers have depended on Performing Rights Organizations to make sure they get compensated.
For much of the last century, three organizations dominated the industry, a relatively staid and unglamorous corner of the music scene that remained largely unchanged throughout the eras of radio, records and CDs. But the rise of streaming has led to a surge in revenue and spawned a handful of new organizations looking to cash in. Now there are at least half a dozen PROs in the US, representing different songwriters and publishers, each demanding that bars, restaurants, hotels and other venues pay a fee or risk being sued.