I take care of the copyright/royalty issue on music playing in our gift shop area by featuring only local artists with ties to our museum's mission. We are a local history & cultural museum. Samples include: sea shanties by a group who frequents our living history events, Chesapeake Bay songs (sort of bluesy) by local artists, etc. ALL of these folks have given their permission for the CDs to be played in our gift shop. Their view is that it helps "push" the music...ultimately recognition and a few coins in their pockets. Now I have question about this live music and royalties. My predecessor had the museum join ASCAP, pay annual dues, and then a fee based on event attendance. (All of this for ONE event with live music!) Regardless of whether or not we have an event, I have to fill out a quarterly report for ASCAP now. 1. Do any of the rest of you belong to ASCAP and pay their "dues?" 2. Shouldn't the band/musician/DJ be the one to pay royalties? 3. Any advice about using live music for benefit events? Thanks, Becky Fitzgerald >But we play CD's in our lobby without thought (uh oh, hope the >ASCAP people aren't reading!). ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).