recently joined a christian rock band and we had a discussion on doing a few cover songs and i was wondering what the procees is to get approval to do somebody else's music. the band does all original stuff, but i thought it would be tasteful (and more fun for a potential audience) if we could throw in something people were familliar with... say... "jesus is just alright with me" and songs like that.
the band has a sort of "classic rock" feel so isongs like that would fit right in.

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If you're talking about playing the song live, you don't need to get permission. The venue is responsible for paying a license to BMI and ASCAP to cover all the music performed in the joint.

If you're playing in a church, I'm sure they haven't paid any fees... but who's gonna care? If you're playing Christian rock in other venues - concert halls, bars, etc. - then the venue owner has probably paid up. If not, it's their bad: you're free to play anything that has been published.

Now, if you're gonna make a record, you need to pay for it. The Harry Fox Agency collects mechanical royalties (which are set by law and really cheap) for virtually all North American publishers.

There was that case of springsteen sueing some bar band for playing dancing in the dark a few years back. Early 90's i think.

From a christian morals standpoint, just ask permission of the composer.

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That Springsteen story must be an urban legend. You can't sue a band for playing your published material, because the mechanism for songwriters getting paid for live performance of their published work is in place. The bar might have been forced to pay BMI or ASCAP fees, but a case of an artist suing a bar band wouldn't even be admitted to court. There's no case.

You don't need to ask the permission of the composer to perform a published work. That's why performance rights organizations like BMI and ASCAP exist.

Dunno about the Springsteen case.

But the Performing Rights outfit in the UK has been getting heavier and heavier on public playing of recorded music. Bars, restaurants, etc that have music going on in the background have found themselves getting demands for performance fees in a much more aggressive way than in the past, much to their dismay.

I wonder if the Springsteen story relates to that?

It has also transpired that the same law applies to the playing of music radio, at least in Britain. (Don't know how that works in other countries.) Employers of all sizes who play the radio for the amusement of their staff at work have found themselves being advised to buy licenses, and very expensive ones at that. Previously, we'd all assumed that was covered by the fees the radio station pays to the Rights people - but it turns out it isn't.

I heard a Performing Rights fella interviewed on the subject. He was asked, jokingly, whether a taxi driver who played the radio whilst in the work place (his cab) would have to pay for a performance license. The Rights guy responded yes - and he was perfectly serious.

The rising temperature on all this is no doubt because of the falling revenues from CD sales. Publishers and Rights people are pulling out the legal paperwork and combing it for extra ways of demanding money.

Watch out!

Cheers - C

No it was some US band. It even made the daily mail over here.

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Post a link to that story, please... I'd love to see their reasoning.

And yes, ASCAP and BMI in the US have been leaning much more heavily on bar owners, etc., but there is still no legal basis for an artist to sue one band for playing a song. This would be a matter of BMI or ASCAP taking on the bar owner, not an artist suing a band.

Are you sure it was the Boss?

I don't remember that, and the only legal issues i find online are about his lawsuit against Mike Appel, and then he and his wife being sued over a horse.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

so, here in the USA, david bowie can play "i'm afraid of americans", and the late, great frank zappa can play "stairway to heaven" because the fleet center and the orpheum theater have paid their dues to BMI and ASCAP - is what i'm gathering.
isn't there the issue of money as well? suppose the band is doing a "concert on the green" in a local town, and we're doing the show as a freebie just to get our name out there. is licensing still an issue? "sure, we played your song, but we didn't make any money doing it... what's the problem?" or are the people who are putting the event together the responsible party?

i can't see how a musician could hear somebody playing their song and not feel more honored than angry.

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Hi Frankie: wait till you're trying to make your living out of it. Then you'll be saying; "Honor be damned. I need to get paid!"

But if you are playing for free on the village green (or whatever) and nobody else is making money out of it then it's unlikely anyone will be coming after you. And if they do it's the organiser of the event they will be talking to, not the band.

Play your covers without worrying. Just don't record and sell them!

Cheers - C

Cant find a link either. I clearly remember it happening around 92 but cant substantiate it, so discount it.

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the bride and i make a decent living making signs out of our garage, so i don't need to make money doing music... but it's a good point you bring out for those whe depend on it. if somebody owes me money, i make sure i get it. i actually drove 60 miles to take a sign down that somebody was giving me the run-around on. i had just finished loading it on the trailer when the manager pulled in. he was calling the owner as i pulled out of the parking lot amid screams of "I'M CALLING THE POLICE!!"... anyway, so yeah, if you should get paid, you should get paid.
i'm doing the band thing as another hobby. if i get paid i'll buy parts for my other hobby - my '69 mustang convertible :)

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Don't forget about SESAC... it's mostly classical at this point, but more and more contemporary songwriters are switching over to it - Bob Dylan might be the most famous convert.

Now I'm scared to listen to the radio...........they might want me to pay a fee for having the nerve to listen to their music!

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"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them."-John Wayne

Don't be. The radio stations pay the PRO fees for you.