How are Cover Songs Legal?

[Pabstblueribbon]

agh, the music biz is so messed up. Venues have to pay like 2000+ dollars per year to beable to have bands perform covers...I have played a few venues that had a "no covers" rule, which can be a pain in the ass. You can get royalities to a lot of songs that are 5 or so years old for like a one time 50 dollar fee depending on what it is.

One of the biggest pains in the ass is the way labels go about things, I've met and played with bands that don't even own the rights OR get royalties to songs they wrote.

My band is playing a large scale fest in a few weeks. we were required to sell 100 tickets, we cant play within like 100 miles of the venue for two weeks, have to sign all these contracts, etc.

[fvgazi]

The whole cover thing is annoying. One of the bands I played in almost couldn't play because of the cover rule.

agh, the music biz is so messed up. Venues have to pay like 2000+ dollars per year to beable to have bands perform covers...I have played a few venues that had a "no covers" rule, which can be a pain in the ass. You can get royalities to a lot of songs that are 5 or so years old for like a one time 50 dollar fee depending on what it is.

One of the biggest pains in the ass is the way labels go about things, I've met and played with bands that don't even own the rights OR get royalties to songs they wrote.

My band is playing a large scale fest in a few weeks. we were required to sell 100 tickets, we cant play within like 100 miles of the venue for two weeks, have to sign all these contracts, etc.

Fuck that! The industry is backwards and terrible. I have friends that were signed (latterman) and they ended up owing money to the label after they broke up. They will never see a penny for the albums they put out. Worst part is there music can be sold out for anything (commercials and such) and they get nothing out of the deal.

That pay to play ticket rule gets me going more than anything else. I had been in a similar situation, but on a smaller scale. A SHOW PROMOTER booked us for the show and basically told us to sell a certain amount of tickets. Stupidly, we ended up not selling enough tickets, she ended up not doing anything to promote the show, and we set up all our equipment and got kicked off stage. I was livid. I learned my lesson.

Thank goodness for DIY spaces and labels who actually care about music and art.

[dedalusdedalus]

It's called a compulsory mechanical license. It's codified under US Code Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 115(a)(2)[2], which reads:

"A compulsory license includes the privilege of making a musical arrangement of the work to the extent necessary to conform it to the style or manner of interpretation of the performance involved, but the arrangement shall not change the basic melody or fundamental character of the work ..."