Warm weather, cool drinks, good food and great music. There’s nothing like it and now that summer’s here, people want to get out more and have fun. What will help entice them to come to your restaurant or bar? Try music. Studies repeatedly show music can draw a crowd and make customers stay longer and spend more.
So, don’t let silence come between you and your potential customers. Performing rights organizations (PROs) like BMI can help by granting the needed permission to play music in all types of restaurants and bars to help set the mood and give customers the experience they’re looking for. And even if you just want to try music in your business for the summer, a BMI license allows you to do that with our seasonal use provision. In addition, you can change how and when you use music up to three times per contract year and have your fee adjusted each time.
Why do businesses have to license their music use? Quite simply, copyright law (which is enacted by Congress and not the PROs) recognizes music as the intellectual property of the songwriters who created it and anyone who wants to use it in a public setting in any format must first get permission. Sound unfair? Not if you think of music as the product songwriters and composers offer, just like products sold to businesses by other suppliers. Because just like other suppliers, paying songwriters and composers for their product is how they stay in the business of writing music.
BMI represents more than 900,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers and their more than 14 million songs. By partnering with 68 industry associations, BMI makes the licensing process simple, offers association member discounts, a Timely Payment discount, as well as flexible payment options. All of this, so that businesses can play BMI music and comply with the law without having to get direct permission from the copyright owners of every song they play. Sound good? It is.
For more information, please visit bmi.com or call a BMI representative at (888) 689-5264. And remember, BMI’s seasonal license doesn’t only exist in the summer, it’s a great way to ring in the holidays, celebrate Valentine’s Day or Cinco de Mayo, and any other special occasion!
