BMI and ASCAP license rates are based on several factors: size of the venue, how many hours/days of copywritten music is played, seating capacity, etc.

Take the small winery, for example. They book professional musicians to play copywritten music at their wine tastings. They also possibly hire a caterer to supply food, a rental company to rent a tent, etc. They reap a financial benefit from the live music.

ASCAP approaches them and demands $1000 for a one-year license to play any of the tens of thousands of song titles they represent. Pretty draconian, no?

Not really. That comes to $3.77 per day, or $26.41 per week. So, if they have a wine tasting once a month, their monthly cost for the license is approx. $105.64. Go and try to rent a tent for 200 people – tell me what that costs.

Contrary to popular belief, music is not free. BMI and ASCAP represent songwriters, and those songwriters are entitled to compensation for their work.