APPENDIX E

The Four PROs

Everything Your Venue Needs to Know About Music Licensing

If music plays in your venue — a band, a DJ, a jukebox, a karaoke rig, a playlist over the speakers, a livestream of your stage — you are publicly performing copyrighted songs, and that almost always requires a license. This appendix gathers, in one place, what a Texas honky tonk needs to understand about it: who the licensing bodies are, why you owe them, what the licenses cover, the special cases (karaoke, livestreaming, jukeboxes), and the real cost of getting it wrong. It expands on Chapter 28; like everything in this book, it’s a plain-English guide, not legal advice — confirm your specifics with the organizations themselves and a qualified attorney.

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Why You Owe a License at All

A songwriter and publisher own the copyright in a song (the composition — the melody and lyrics), separate from the recording of it. U.S. copyright law gives them the exclusive right to control its public performance — and playing it in your bar, whether live, recorded, or sung along to, is a public performance. To make this manageable, songwriters affiliate with Performing Rights Organizations (PROs), which license their catalogs in bulk and collect royalties on their behalf. You pay the PRO a blanket annual fee; the PRO pays the writers; and you get the right to play their music without negotiating song by song. It is, despite the hassle, a reasonable system — and paying it is both the law and the way the musicians whose work fills your room get paid.

The Four PROs

There are four performing-rights organizations operating in the United States, and because each represents different songwriters, most venues that play a broad range of music need licenses from all four to be fully covered — a song from one PRO’s catalog isn’t covered by another’s license.

The practical upshot: to play popular music broadly and lawfully, budget for licenses from all four. Skipping the smaller two (SESAC, GMR) is a common and risky mistake — their catalogs include songs your band or jukebox will absolutely play.

How the Licensing Works

• It’s a blanket annual license. You pay each PRO a yearly fee for the right to publicly perform anything in its catalog, as often as you like — not per song or per night.

• The fee is based on your operation. PROs set rates using factors like venue size/capacity, whether music is live or recorded, how often you have music, cover charges, and similar — so your cost reflects your use.

• It covers the venue’s performances broadly. Live bands, DJs, recorded background music, and patrons singing karaoke are generally covered by your blanket licenses — the obligation is the venue’s, not something you can push onto the band.

• They will find you. PROs actively monitor venues that host music and reach out (and pursue) those performing their catalogs without a license. Being small or rural is not protection.

• You can negotiate and you can ask. Rates aren’t always take-it-or-leave-it; ask about your specific situation, and keep records of what you’ve licensed.

The Special Cases

Karaoke

Karaoke has two layers. Your PRO licenses cover the public performance of the songs being sung. But the karaoke tracks themselves — the instrumental/lyric files — must also be legally licensed copies; using bootleg or unlicensed karaoke tracks is a separate infringement. Use a legitimate, properly licensed karaoke library or a licensed karaoke vendor (Ch. 15).

Livestreaming and online video

Streaming your live shows or posting performance video online is a different kind of use that your in-venue PRO licenses may not cover — online transmission can require separate licensing, and the social platforms have their own music-rights systems that may mute or pull your video. Before you livestream shows or post full performances, check whether you need additional licenses and understand the platform’s music rules (Ch. 21/28).

Jukeboxes and background-music services

A traditional jukebox is often covered through an industry licensing arrangement handled by the jukebox provider — but confirm that with your vendor rather than assume it. Commercial background-music services often include public-performance coverage for the specific background use, locations, and music sources stated in the service agreement; do not assume that coverage extends to live bands, DJs, karaoke, livestreams, admission-based dancing, or music supplied outside the service. A personal music-streaming account does not provide business-use permission.

The Cost of Getting It Wrong

Performing copyrighted music without the proper licenses is copyright infringement, and the penalties are severe enough to end a small business. Statutory damages for willful infringement run up to $150,000 per work infringed — per song — plus the other side’s attorney’s fees. PROs do sue venues that ignore repeated notices, and they win. Against that exposure, the annual license fees — a manageable, predictable operating cost — are cheap insurance. Pay them, keep your paperwork, and treat music licensing as a non-negotiable cost of being a music venue (which, per Chapter 32, it is).