WASHINGTON, DC, (June 15, 2017)— WineAmerica, the national organization of American wineries, and ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, are working together to simplify music licensing compliance for the American wine industry with the introduction of a unique music license created specifically for wineries.
The wine industry is unique: many wineries and vineyards are all-in-one agriculture, manufacturing, and retail establishments. ASCAP undertook a reevaluation of their winery license and crafted a new license that better serves the wine industry’s needs while ensuring compensation for its music creators. WineAmerica will work closely with ASCAP to administer the license to its member businesses and will provide an additional 10% discount to WineAmerica members.
ASCAP is a membership association that operates on a non-profit basis and represents more than 600,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. ASCAP’s mission is to license the public performances of their songs, collect those license fees, and ensure that songwriters are reasonably compensated for their work, a principle which WineAmerica fully supports. Under copyright law, when a venue such as a winery, restaurant or other establishment plays recorded, or offers live performances of, copyrighted music, it must purchase a license in order for the songwriter to be paid.
“WineAmerica has taken the leadership role on this issue, thanks to the diligent efforts of Vice President Tara Good,” said WineAmerica President Jim Trezise. “The new winery-specific license is simple and affordable, and WineAmerica members save even more.”
“A large number of wineries sincerely want to offer live music as part of their visitor experience, but the terms of the license did not meet their needs,” said Good. “We applaud ASCAP for recognizing this and for modifying their license so that it works for our establishments. We’re looking forward to collaborating with ASCAP to ensure that visitors can continue to enjoy music as much as they do the wines during their winery visit.”
“Music is more than just an art form for music creators – it’s their livelihood. It’s how they put food on the table and send their kids to school,” said Vincent Candilora, ASCAP EVP of Licensing. “WineAmerica recognizes the importance of paying music creators to use their music, and understands that it is both the lawful and right thing to do. We’re proud to work together with WineAmerica to develop a solution that works for wineries and for our music creators.”
The new winery license:
- Lowers the square footage basis for determining license fees for smaller wineries. Wineries up to 3,750 square feet will pay the lowest fees.
- Removes the requirement to purchase separate licenses for different venues on a winery’s property (e.g., tasting room versus restaurant);
- Separates the live music and recorded music options, allowing the winery to choose just one or both;
- Offers a seasonal discount range;
- Provides a special reduced price for wineries under 5,000 gallons a year that host 6 or fewer performances per year.
In addition to the savings that wineries will gain from the new license, WineAmerica members are eligible to receive an additional 10% reduction on their licensing costs. WineAmerica is also available to help wineries assess whether licensing music is right for their business needs and to help shepherd them through the process. To learn more visit www.wineamerica.org/music or contact Tara Good at tgood@wineamerica.org. For additional questions ASCAP has a toll-free number for business owners to ask questions or concerns: 1-800-505-4052 (option 4).
About WineAmerica
WineAmerica is the national voice of the American wine industry. Based in Washington, D.C., WineAmerica represents wineries in 41 states and leads a coalition of state and regional wine and grape associations. As an industry leader, WineAmerica encourages the dynamic growth and development of American wineries and winegrowing through the advancement and advocacy of sound public policy.
About ASCAP
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is a professional membership organization of songwriters, composers and music publishers of every kind of music. ASCAP’s mission is to license and promote the music of its members and foreign affiliates, obtain fair compensation for the public performance of their works and to distribute the royalties that it collects based upon those performances. ASCAP members write the world’s best-loved music and ASCAP has pioneered the efficient licensing of that music to hundreds of thousands of enterprises who use it to add value to their business – from bars, restaurants and retail, to radio, TV and cable, to Internet, mobile services and more. The ASCAP license offers an efficient solution for businesses to legally perform ASCAP music while respecting the right of songwriters and composers to be paid fairly. With over 600,000 members representing more than 10.5 million copyrighted works, ASCAP is the worldwide leader in performance royalties, service and advocacy for songwriters and composers, and the only American performing rights organization (PRO) owned and governed by its writer and publisher members. Learn more and stay in touch at www.ascap.com, on Twitter and Instagram @ASCAP and on Facebook.
ASCAP and BMI are some of the most predatory and deceptive businesses. They threaten court cases where there are no violations. One time they argued that a singer and songwriter could not perform his own music without paying their fee, even though he was not on their list of performers they collect for. They threatened to take him to court with their considerable resources and then tried to extort money from him. They tired of the effort once they realized he had no significant resources to go after. This “non profit” is a sham.
Singer/Songwriters don’t pay fees to perform their songs live. The Performing Rights Organizations pay the writers who registered their songs and reported their performances with their PRO. That is how that works.