Go to www.bmi.com , click on "Licensing" at the top of the page, and you will find links to all sorts of information for venues about licensing BMI music: why they should do so, forms, rules, etc.

(I notice BMI has a whole new look to their website since last week or so -- looks much easier to find things now.)

Go here:

http://www.bmi.com/songwriter/resources/pubs/royalty.asp

to find the low-down on how BMI allocates their royalty payments among writers.

Unfortunately, in terms of the present discussion, I cannot find anything in that booklet that describes allocation for performances in small venues such as bars, nightclubs, restaurants, etc. Closest I see (unless I've missed something) is how they determine royalties for concerts.

I would suspect that computers will one day make it very easy for the PROs to account for virtually every performance of every work. The licensee keeps a computerized playlist, then uploads it to the PRO.

If you look under that "Licensing" link at the BMI page, you'll see that BMI is already doing this for radio stations.

--- Ed

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