What Kind of Music Sounds Good in Your Establishment?

Want to make music work for your establishment? Here’s what the experts say.

Set the tempo. • Restaurant patrons eat according to the tempo of music being played. That’s why McDonalds plays music with a faster tempo during peak dayparts. --McDonalds Corporation, private research

• In a field study by Ronald Milliman, restaurant patrons were exposed to either fast or slow tempo music. Fast music caused diners to finish faster (45 minutes vs. 56minutes), but a medium tempo resulted in patrons ordering more drinks. --R. E. Milliman, Journal of Consumer Research, 1986

Music selection influences customer choices. • To project an upscale image, managers may choose classical music, subdued colors, elegant perfumes, cool temperatures, sparsely displayed merchandise and low lighting. --Bruner, Music, Mood and Marketing, 1990

• Playing French music influenced a shopper’s selection of French wine and playing German music influenced shoppers to purchase German wines. --North, Hargreaves and McKendrick, University of Leicester, psychology department, 1997

With music on the menu, the cash register in your restaurant, bar or night club will cha-cha-cha-ching.

What does the ASCAP license do for you? ASCAP gives you the license to thrill your customers with the world’s largest musical repertory. One of the greatest advantages of the ASCAP license is that it gives you the right to perform ALL the millions of musical works in our repertory. Whether your music is live or played through CDs, videos, laser discs, large screen or multiple TVs, a radio over a loudspeaker system or telephone music-on-hold, your establishment needs an ASCAP license.

Why do we need permission to perform music? Music is like all personal property. It belongs to the people who create it. And when you want to use it, you must ask permission. Remember, songwriters have to make a living too. That’s why in order to play their music to the public, you must, by law, obtain permission for each of the thousands and thousands of songs you play each year. Your ASCAP license fully protects you by granting lawful permission to play all ASCAP music.

What is ASCAP? ASCAP is the largest performing rights organization in the world, made up entirely of songwriters and publishers. We’re able to distribute over 88% of your license fee to the songwriters, composers and publishers as their primary source of income to keep their music coming to you. ASCAP gives you the license to thrill your guests with over 8 million musical works from over 435,000 members and many more writers and publishers from all over the world.

Who is licensed by ASCAP? The question should be, what type of business isn’t licensed by ASCAP. We license hundreds of thousands of music users such as hotels and motels, restaurants, nightclubs, cable TV networks and local systems, radio stations, TV networks and stations, conventions, expositions, industrial shows, meetings and trade shows, corporations, background/foreground music services, shopping malls, dance schools, concert promoters, internet sites and services and many others who use music to rev up their business.

What happens if we use ASCAP music without permission? If you choose to use another’s property without permission, a court can assess damages generally ranging from a minimum of $750 up to $30,000 for each song “infringed,” require you to pay attorney’s fees and court costs, and enter an injunction against you. As an ASCAP licensee you are lawfully entitled to use all of our members’ music.

Aren’t musicians and entertainers responsible for obtaining permission for the music they use? Some people mistakenly assume that musicians and entertainers must obtain all licenses needed for their performances, or that responsibility can be shifted from the business owner to musicians or entertainers. But, the law says all who participate in or are responsible for a performance are legally responsible. Since it is the business owner who is obtaining the ultimate benefit from the performance, it is the business owner who obtains the needed license. The fee is a cost of doing business.

Must we sign an ASCAP license? No, you can obtain permission directly from the copyright owner. But ASCAP provides a valuable service to businesses and organizations that use copyrighted music—by helping you easily meet Copyright Law obligations. Your ASCAP license fee authorizes your restaurant, nightclub or bar to use any of the millions of songs we represent. In short, the ASCAP license is music to everyone’s ears.

How is the ASCAP license fee determined? Your fees are based on your music use or “operating policy,” which includes the occupancy of your establishment and the number of days or evenings per week music is used. Your fee is reduced if you use music only occasionally or seasonally.

Does the ASCAP license authorize live concert performances? The agreement does not authorize live concert performances when tickets for such live concert performances can be purchased from or through outside ticket services (i.e. Ticketmaster, Ticketweb, etc.).

When do I pay the license fee? The annual license fee is payable in advance.

Is a discount available? Yes. If you prepay your entire annual license fee for the upcoming year (provided there is not an outstanding balance on your account) together with payment within 30 days of receipt of your invoice, the license fee for that year will be reduced by 10%. If you prepay your entire annual license fee for the upcoming TWO years (provided there is not an outstanding balance on your account) together with payment within 30 days of receipt of your invoice, the license fee in total for the TWO years will be reduced by 15%.

What if I change my music policy? We will be glad to adjust your fee, but please give us advance notice 30 days before the change is to take place.

Is authorization required when only TV or radios are used? Our license agreements with network and local television and radio stations, cable programming services, and cable and satellite operators do not extend to the communication of these signals in public establishments. An ASCAP license may be required for these performances. A food service or drinking establishment is exempt from licensing for radio or TV music uses if it has no more than 3750 gross square feet of space. Larger establishments are exempt if radio is used and there are no more than six loudspeakers with no more than four loudspeakers located in any one room or adjoining outdoor space. If television sets are used, (a) there can be no more than four televisions, (b) only one TV can be located in any one room and (c) none can have a diagonal screen size greater than 55 inches. In either case, there can be no charge to see or hear the transmissions.

ASCAP represents every kind of music. ASCAP’s repertory includes pop, rock, alternative, country, R&B, rap, hip-hop, Latin, film music, television music, folk, roots, blues, jazz, reggae, gospel, contemporary Christian, new age, theater, cabaret, dance, electronic, symphonic, chamber, choral, band, concert, educational and children’s music - the entire musical spectrum.

ASCAP is home to the greatest names in American music, past and present, as well as thousands of writers in the earlier stages of their careers. ASCAP members include Irving Berlin, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Leonard Bernstein, Madonna, Wynton Marsalis, Stephen Sondheim, Jay Z, Mary J. Blige, Michael W. Smith, Duke Ellington, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Brad Paisley, Marc Anthony, Sugarland, Dave Matthews, Michael Giacchino, Green Day, Henry Mancini - just to name a few.

Among the works in the ASCAP repertory are: “Appalachian Spring,” “Purple Haze,” “I Get A Kick Out of You,” “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “How Do I Live,” “Oh Happy Day,” “Beautiful,” “Grenade,” “A Night in Tunisia,” “Moon River,” “Home,” “Just the Way You Are,” “I Shot the Sheriff,” “My Girl,” “Hello Dolly,” “When Doves Cry,” “Jailhouse Rock,” “Like A Rock,” “Like A Virgin,” and “Born in the U.S.A.”

Information about specific works and ASCAP members can be obtained in a variety of ways. Separate data bases of works in the ASCAP repertory that have been registered with ASCAP since January 1, 1991, or identified in ASCAP’s surveys of performed works since January 1, 1978, are available online at the ASCAP web site, www.ascap.com (click on “ACE / Repertory”). The ACE Database can also be used to determine whether a particular songwriter or composer is a member of ASCAP. The same data contained in the ACE Database is also available on CD-ROM and can be purchased at a cost of $5.00 by written request to: ASCAP, One Lincoln Plaza, New York, NY, 10023, Attn: Director of Repertory. More comprehensive records of the titles, dates of U.S. Copyright registration (if any), writers and current publishers or other copyright owners of all known works in the ASCAP repertory are available for public inspection at ASCAP’s offices in New York City during regular business hours. You can also write or call ASCAP for information as to specific works: (866) 238- 8997 or ASCAP, One Lincoln Plaza, New York, NY 10023, Attn: Repertory Dept. - Clearance Section.

P.O. Box 331608-7515 Nashville, TN 37203-9998 (800) 505-4052 - www.ascap.com