On one hand, I do support the idea that these guys are collecting money for the song writers.

But then I wonder how much of the collected money actually goes to the song writers.

I've heard stories of musicians who set up an experiment in which they played their original (C) songs regularly at clubs that were supposed to be BMI/ASCAP licensed, but they never got a check once... even though the club owner paid the dues, and the musician notified BMI/ASCAP that they had played the venue.

If the justification for the extortion is that they are collecting money for the artists.. but the artists never get any of it... then it becomes a straw man argument.

John Desjardins (Silvertones) mentioned once that at least one of the places he had been playing stopped offering live music because the enforcers showed up and demanded retroactive payments. I know of places here in Winston-Salem that also stopped offering live music for the same reason... and at least one venue that allows only originals for the same reason.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ey71h8ep047758h/AAC12jNM0Hz9Q8zsh5iDeqNHa?dl=0