[Infowarrior] - More music industry nuttery

[Richard Forno]

Prisons And Hair Dressers Latest To Push Back On Ridiculous Collection  
Society Demands
from the pay-to-listen dept
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100120/1028177833.shtml

We've noticed lately that music collection societies have been going  
overboard in demanding more and more money from pretty much anyone who  
listens to music, claiming "public performances" and assuming that  
they're worth a lot more than they really are -- almost everywhere you  
turn. mikez sent in two new stories about collection societies -- both  
involving operations pushing back on the demands.

The first involves prisons in the UK who are refusing to pay the  
licensing fees, and thus are telling prisoners (hey look, real  
thieves!) that they can't listen to music any more in any area where  
multiple people might be (the kitchen, workshops, restrooms, etc.)  
since others might overhear it. Yes, listening to music in a prison  
apparently requires a separate performance license.

The second story involves Spanish hairdressers who are similarly  
refusing to pay and, instead, are telling customers to bring their own  
MP3 players to listen to their own music, privately.

The really ridiculous thing is that in both cases all this is really  
doing is harming musicians. When places play music, it actually acts  
as advertising for that music -- and these collection societies are  
basically demanding to be paid for having people promote the music of  
various artists. So the artists get less promotion and don't get money  
from places like the examples above refusing to pay. Everyone loses!