| Making sure you
have the right licenses to perform music in your store can be a
tricky, confusing and expensive exercise. Frankly, that’s
why most businesses contract with a music service like Custom Channels
– because we handle all of the licenses for you as part of
your monthly fee – so you can worry about running your business
instead of running afoul of copyright laws.
Here’s the bottom line: most businesses need to obtain “public
performance licenses” from Performing Rights Organizations
(PROS), namely ASCAP, BMI and SESAC in order to play or “publicly
perform” music in their place of business. Every year, dozens
of bars, restaurants, stores, nightclubs, hotels and others are
sued (usually successfully) by the PROS. Some have even been
put out of business through successful lawsuits over copyright infringement.
So, if you want to play your iPod or a local radio station or your
CD collection in your store, you’ll probably still need to
sign up and get licenses directly from the PROS. This is often a
costly and time-consuming endeavor.
Oh, one more thing. Let’s say you want to go ahead and get
your own licenses from the PROS and do your own music. But if you
think it’s as easy as making copies of your favorite music
library on a dozen iPods or mix CDs and distributing them out to
the stores, think again. To make copies, you must also get permission
from the record labels and publishers directly. The penalties
for unlawfully copying songs for commercial use can be stiff.
Custom Channels In-store Radio already covers all the licensing
costs so you have nothing to worry about. We also allow you to place
your own individualized messaging in your handpicked music selection
so you don’t hear unwanted commercials, song repetition or
low-quality sound. And, we’re music fanatics, so we can take
the artists you already know and love and help expand your music
selection.
For more information on music licensing, please visit the organizations'
sites below. Or better yet, let Custom Channels handle the details
for you. After all, it's what we do!
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