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Question for Alabama Radio Folks...

G

guyinmgm

Hey everyone, long time reader of the board but haven't posted until now. I have a question for you. My previous employer in North Alabama recently asked if I could produce a two to three hour radio show of Christmas music for his AM station on my home studio and mail it to him to air. Am I responsible for any licensing of copyrighted music on the CD I mail to him to play over the air or his radio station the one that would pay any music fees for BMI and the like? I'm not sure and I didn't know how the fees are paid or who would pay them. Last thing I want to do is wind up in court or owing money for a show produced for this individual. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
Interesting question.

Might be best posted to either the Business of Radio or Programming boards. They're found "further down" under the Radio Pros section.

Let us know what you find.
 
Let me see if I can help. Based on experience from the days of getting reel to reel tapes w/ songs already loaded from BP and Drake, both of you pay. You'd pay a performance royalty and the station (who should have a current account w/BMI etc) will pay a percentage based on gross billing. Now if you just build a play list with song titles for the station to put into the show and you only provide the voice drops only the station pays....I THINK. I am not a lawyer so don't go just by my word, please contact an attorney first. You sure don't want to run afoul of those guys. Good luck.
 
If it's not being distributed to multiple stations or presented anywhere else... I would assume the station's license agreements cover the broadcast of music on their station. You are not publicly performing or broadcasting the music, so it should not fall to you.

ASCAP and BMI licenses are for "public performance" of the music. That is why store and restaurant owners are required to pay - even if they are re-airing a radio broadcast - because they present the music to a unique audience. You are not doing that.
 
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