Welcome to "(What's the Story) Peter Morey?" this first Tuesday of June 2012.
If you are planning a party or event this summer, then for the first time in Canadian history you will now have to dig into your pocket and pay for the recorded music you play.
New laws by the Copyright Board of Canada have been passed around the playing of music at public events including weddings, parades, fashion shows and karaoke bars. It's not going to break the bank but see what you think:
For weddings, receptions, conventions, assemblies and fashion shows the fee is $9.25 per day if fewer than 100 people are present. It goes up to $39.33 for crowds of more than 500 people.
But watch out if people start shaking their ting on the dance floor because then the fees double. Ouch. Time to shake your actual money maker.
Karaoke bars will pay between $86.06 and $124 annually depending on how many days a week they permit the wailing of their clientelle.
Parades will be charged $4.39 for each float with recorded music, subject to a minimum fee of $32.55 per day.
Anyone playing music at an event on a street or in a park will pay $16 a day.
Festivals, exhibitions and fairs will pay up to $42 a day if there are fewer than 100,000 attendees. Any more than that, the cost rises per 100,000 people added. Think St. Patricks day in NY, or Mardi Grass in New Orleans, or even Canada Day on the Hill.
The system relies on the honesty of those playing the music at their event. Yes the fee paying process is self policed.
Over to you. What do you think?
Are you happy to pay to play?
Are musicians overdue their dues?
Should we find an alternative to recorded music at events.
Will silence finally prevail?
Is this a ridiculous un-policable law?
Have your say on the blog today.
This is what a world without first wedding dance music looks like. Painful.
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