Wow, this has been a very enlightening dialogue. I appreciate everyone really gettin' into it. The jury's still out for me, though.

One of my favorite axoms is:

"THERE'S TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY...AND THEN THERE'S THE TRUTH!"

That being said, my own back-and-forth looks something like this:

I totally agree that $2 a day is not much if it's what you gotta do to do biz. And Bob Young is convincing in his statement that little joints have been accepting it as part of their overhead for decades. AND supposedly the money goes back to music and musicians in a good way.

On the other hand, I am very aware that large organizations (no matter how non-profit they are)that closely tied with the music industry can have a tendency to be bogged down in less-than-effiecient and less-than-fair methods.

Yes, the PRO's are supposed to be helping their songwriting members get their due. BUT LOOK AT THE CRAZY-PREDATORY-BOTTOM-LINE-DRIVEN INDUSTRY THE PRO'S AND ALL OF US ARE IMMERSED IN. I'm sorry, I'm into capitalism as much as the next guy-- heck I DEPEND on it. But Bob, I gotta tell ya, IT AIN'T THE SIXTIES ANYMORE. The gap between art and commerce is GROTESQUE right now more than ever.

My point? Yes, venues should pay their piddly 2 buck a day. BUT, we should also question where that money is going and how. DO WE SEND OFF OUR INCOME TAXES FEELING ALL WARM AND FUZZY ABOUT HOW GREAT AND FAIR THE DISTRIBUTION OF THAT MONEY IS? No. We question our representatives and get involved and make sure our voices are heard, like good Americans. Although it's only $2 a day and doesn't seem to warrant so much whining, it would suck if it really wasn't fully getting into the proper hands. It's amazing how easily people seem to be trusting a massive bureaucrocy while distrusting the little neighborhood bar.

By the way, is it true that PRO's distribute that $700 (a venue pays) to members based on local radio airplay? If that's true, it's a perfect example of good intentions turning into unfair policy. My god. As someone already mentioned, the gap between music played live and music playing on even "alternative" radio is HUGE.

So, the TRUTH? I still don't know. We just gotta keep talking and learning. Venues, PAY THE LITTLE FEE. Everybody, MAKE SURE THE PRO's are distributing it fairly. And let's keep talkin'.