For the other side of the fees, I looked up the way BMI calculates the annual fee for an "Eating and Drinking Establishment" with live music 2-4 nights per week, performed by more than one musician, same group not performing more than 5 times in one month. The amount is $3.80 per occupant per year. So if your night club holds 100 people (they use the max allowed by the fire code) you would owe $380 per year. If you only had a single musician, one or fewer nights per week, it would be $250/yr.

Provided you did not have a cover charge, have dancing, or have other sources of music such as a juke box, radio, DJ, etc. All those add to the fee. The form is kind of like an Income Tax form. [Linked Image] The annual minimum is $277.

That is just for food establishments. Each business type has its own schedule. All the forms are online at www.bmi.com. For the gory details for food establishments, check out http://www.bmi.com/licensing/forms/ede.pdf