Hi all!
I contacted BMI this year to ask about a nonprofit license to play
recorded music at our holiday party, as a backup plan in case Mal's band
cannot play. They sent me a quote for $211, which I told their license
person was probably too expensive for us to pay.
This morning an 'executive' of licensing called me back to hard-pressure
me into paying the fee, insinuating legal threats and auditing our
party. They also said that having live musicians still requires the
license, even if they play music of their own composition or public
domain music (which I a 99% sure is untrue).
Here is my reply to his follow-up email with a second quote, for $211,
for our 4-hour party.
Please let me know if you think this is an out of line response, as I am
very annoyed right now. Otherwise I'd like to send it.
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Michael: I appreciate your concern for our legal well-being.
You have offered us a license fee of $211 /*minimum*/ as a "Music
promoter" for a 4-hour Christmas party. We are a nonprofit volunteer
bird rescue, not a music promoter or bar/restaurant owner. $211 is more
than enough to save a parrot from euthanasia at a shelter. Our board
and volunteers cannot fathom spending that much simply to have recorded
music at our party.
We will find a musician to play live music of their own composition (or
public domain) at our party, or we will do without music entirely (and a
drab party that will be!). If you had some price that we could
reasonably afford, such as $20 or $40, we would be happy to pay it.
Aside from the above facts, I am very disappointed that after I pointed
out our concerns on the phone, you chose to lecture me on the finer
points of copyright law. On behalf of our rescue, I *wanted* to be
proactive and keep us on the right side of the law, which is why I
contacted you in the first place. At this point, I feel that I contacted
BMI in good faith and was instead insulted and threatened. If this is
how you choose to do business with everyone, I can easily see why the
music industry has a music piracy problem.
--Matt
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