Music Royalties?

[Lotus]

I have been reading/researching.
Right now the only streaming site that I have found that pays music royalties as part of their service is Live 365.
Anybody know of any others?

[charlieobrien]

Not that I've heard.
I believe MixCloud has a royalty package but it's aimed mostly at uploading full audio shows or podcasts, not streams.
I use Live365 - it does the job.

[Lotus]

Not that I've heard.
I believe MixCloud has a royalty package but it's aimed mostly at uploading full audio shows or podcasts, not streams.
I use Live365 - it does the job.

Thanks. Do you know of anybody that pays the royalties themselves? It is not the easiest thing to find solid information on.

[Busby]

Yes, I'm in the UK and I pay royalties to both PRS and PPL.

If you don't have a license, the penalties can be big (talking from experience) 

[Doug Infinity]

Can you elaborate? 

I've been trying to find actual cases of any kind of action other than take-down orders and other nastygrams. Considering the astronomical number of stations out there, I have a hard time understanding why the forums aren't awash in posts about getting busted.

So naturally I am curious to learn who among us has direct experience
with this? I'd be interested in knowing:

How did they contact you?
Who were "They?"
What was the complaint?
Were they referencing one particilar artist/label?
What was the demand?
What was the threat for further non-compliance?
Did you negotiate, or just hand over the $$$?

A little context:  I've been threatened with legal action more than once (evidence of a life well-lived) Once over a different kind of copyright infringement. Dick Clark Productions, if you must know. I complied with the cease order and pretty much ignored the other demands except for keeping their lawyer on the phone for as long as I could. (They bill their clients in 15 minute increments  )  They kept pressing. I kept ignoring. Eventually the phone stopped ringing. The amount they were talkiing about was ~$50k, and they probably already spent $4k just rattling my cage. When they figured I wasn't going to roll over, they counted the cost of litigation, knew a court would never award them anything close to their demand and (rightfully) assumed that collection would have been another costly process.

I was busted by the FCC over a pirate radio station I operated for 10 years. I mistakenly let the Feds in my house when they came a knockin', but I politely declined when told me that I needed to surrender my equipment. They weren't looking for me when they found me so there was no warrant, etc.  They wrote up a form and asked me to sign. Another polite decline - I wasn't about to admit to anything more than I (mistakenly) had. Especially in writing. I got a sternly worded letter that I framed.

I'm not suggesting anybody follow my examples in life or that any of this masquerades as wisdom, but this seems to be how things go in general. I am keen to see how this is playing out in the real world.

Asking for a friend.

[Busby]

My station is in the |UK and I believed that because my artists play their own music and music supplied by their friends that I didn't need a license.

Wrong!

I had to enlist a lawyer to defend me, and eventually settled with a £5k fine for unlicensed broadcasting down from £50k

So yes, people do get fined.

So annoying when i have to pay royalties and others don't

[ghm72]

Since the Pandemic Streaming (Mainly Video) has become a BIG thing.

I personally don't see how the PPL and PRS can possibly keep up with millions of streamers with their LIMITED capabilities. I've had dealings with the PPL in the past on the phone over licence fees  for a venue and it took them weeks before we heard anything back.

They might catch a few but they're Not going to get all of them.

Licencing and copyright Laws are a Complete ARSE anyway...

I mean look at the Hoo-Ha over Happy Birthday you are now legally allowed to play it where as in the 1990s a club I was on the committee of daren't  let me play it too often in case they got collared and threatened with a fine.

[Busby]

Personally, I think it was a competitor, or possibly an ex-DJ who reported me..

I've had some sneaky tricks played over the years