New city ordinance we're dealing with - you need to now file for an entertainment permit EVERY WEEK to have live music. Each permit is only good for 72 hours. And of course, they ain't free. Club owners are telling me it's going to be no music or pay-to-play.
"No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim
Originally Posted by Offshore Angler
I thought this wouldn't happen in the US.
Club owners here do pay a fee if they feature live bands or play records, but the money goes to a copyright managing agency and most of it is forwarded to artists.
what city is it? I can see the requirement for permits that expire but having to pay? Not so sure about the legality of that. Is there going to be adequate clerical support? Is it only for live music? What about DJs and weddings and private parties?
I thought so too. I am not very skilled in American law, but I'm sure there are several legal issues there.
Years ago, the bar owners would pay a fee for both juke box, and live music. Different venues were either ASCAP or BMI, and many (country) bar owners would prohibit any R&R, presumably because of the licensing.
It is my understanding that both entities are now affiliated. DWI laws have shut down most of our local venues!
Another dagger for live music.
Not a federal or even state law. Here in the Peoples Republic of New York any county, municipality, city, etc., can pretty much do whatever they want.
"No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim
This is just the latest attempt for the city of New York to tax and regulate all performers.
Let us not forget the horrendously political clout and arbitrariness of the New York City Cabaret Identification Card, which was in effect from prohibition to 1967. Without one, no performer could play in a "cabaret" in the city.
From Wikipedia:
From Prohibition until 1967, a permit called the New York City Cabaret Identification Card was required of all workers, including performers, in New York City nightclubs. Their administration was fraught with politics, and some artists' cards were revoked on specious grounds. For many performers, the revocation of their cabaret card resulted in the loss of their livelihood. Those of Chet Baker, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Jackie McLean, Elmo Hope, Billy Higgins, and Billie Holiday were suspended because of drug charges, and that of Lenny Bruce for his reputed obscenity.
Burlesque dancer Sally Rand challenged the refusal to issue her a cabaret card, which was refused based on her alleged scanty attire. A judge overturned the decision as an "arbitrary and an unjustified act". The judge noted that the cabaret regulations take effect only after a card had been issued to a performer and warned Rand that her privileges could be revoked if she did not follow regulations. J. J. Johnson challenged the withholding of his card at the New York State Supreme Court in May 1959, and won the issue of a valid card.
In 1960, Lord Buckley died soon after his card was seized under mysterious circumstances. The ensuing scandal led to the abolition of the cabaret card system. Following the seizure of Buckley's card, Harold L. Humes convened a "Citizens' Emergency Committee"—which included Norman Mailer, David Amram, and Norman Podhoretz—in the apartment of writer George Plimpton. Humes and Maxwell T. Cohen, Buckley's lawyer, confronted Police Commissioner Stephen Kennedy at a raucous hearing. In January 1961, Mayor Robert F. Wagner, Jr. announced that control of the cabaret card system would be removed from the New York City Police Department. The system was abolished in its entirety in 1967, with the New York City Council voting 35-1 to eliminate the required cards. The Council's discussion of the issue included the reading of a message from Frank Sinatra, who would not perform in New York City and had refused to apply for a cabaret card, citing the application and investigation process as "demeaning".
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This sounds like a variation on it... with more taxes.
Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you don't. -- Pete Seeger
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