ASCAP & BMI misusing their power

I'm a songwriter, so I am for protecting songwriter copyrights, and also protecting musicians and arrangers, w/o whom songs would not be available.

But I have been hearing from my musician friends in small bands who play at open mics and small restaurant venues that ASCAP & BMI have been harassing the venues for large fees, much more than reasonable, resulting in the cancelling of the bands performances. A year or two ago, the same problem was had by monthly coffeehouse I go to in a church, which requests $5 donations and lets people in if they can't afford it, and donates the money to charity. Eg., last week the money went to the Atlanta food bank.

This does not at all help songwriters. That is not why I joined ASCAP. If someone is making real money from my songs, yes, I expect to get paid for the work I put into them. And a reasonable license for a restaurant is ok, but not ones so large it causes them to cut out their live music. It just means fewer people will hear the songs, and be motivated to buy a recording.


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