Thank you, everybody, for your comments! This is turning into a useful discussion!

The best thing I got from Coyote's last post was the monthly fee; if my clients (venue proprietors) actually CAN pay by the month, that's much more reasonable.

I kind of want to quibble over the figures (guilty! I'm a quibbler!) because I think you're dividing it into 365 days a year. These places are only open and making any money six hours a day at most, six days a week, with holiday closings as well. It's not like they're making money hand over fist 16 hours a day, every day. So per-hour-of-operation, it's somewhat steeper than the glass of wine analogy.

But yes, they DO have to pay the PRO's if they use music, even if it's just CD's or the radio or the busboy whistling while he works; if it's copyrighted popular songs, they must pay.

Which brings me to the crux of the matter: IF the venues pay ASCAP (and BMI if they show up) whatever they are assessed, isn't that for ALL the music used during ALL the hours of operation? If that's the case, the business doesn't save any money by cutting back live music entertainment. So I could perform there more often, without ASCAP charging them more for it. Am I right? This is the crucial question here, for me.

Despite my whining, this is where all this discussion was leading. If anyone can confirm this, it will really help my cause as a performer trying to work in these small venues.

THANKS AGAIN!!!

I will always disappoint people who expect me to be ordinary.