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News November 10, 2017

That nightclub boycott of Aussie music won’t happen, and here’s why

That nightclub boycott of Aussie music won’t happen, and here’s why

APRA AMCOS and PPCA’s joint licensing venture OneMusic Australia has invited venues who are playing recorded music for the purpose of dancing to provide feedback on an initial licence proposal.

Venues have until 27 November to plead their case as to whether a newly proposed pricing structure for licensing fees should be revisited.

The move follows a threat by the Surfers Paradise Licensed Venues Association to boycott Australian artists off of venue playlists and a reported court action at the proposed new royalties fee structure for playing recorded music. The venues believe the proposed fees would be “crippling” to their livelihood.

Richard Mallett, APRA AMCOS’ Head of Revenue and Licensing said the published information by some media this week was “grossly incorrect”.

“The example given was a dance venue with a capacity of 500 people trading six days a week, every week of the year. Even if such a venue existed in Australia, under the current two licences, and based on an 85 per cent attendance rate, they would be currently paying a total of $320,813. Under OneMusic Australia’s initial proposal, this venue would see a reduction of $24,413, to $296,400.”

APRA AMCOS has used the following example to better explain its proposed fee structure:

If a two level club operates only one level on a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, their fee on those nights will be based on the lower ‘one level’ capacity, not the full capacity of the club.  If a venue with a capacity of 100 sees 500 people come and go in a night they are still only charged at the 100 capacity rate.

In fact, the collecting body has run the numbers on a “range of real-life dance venue scenarios.” It discovered an average saving of 3.8% for venues currently licensed under both APRA AMCOS’ and PPCA’s current schemes.

PPCA General Manager, Lynne Small said, “This is the first dance venue proposal. There is time for healthy debate from industry and artists. It is up to the industry to present us with alternatives and OneMusic Australia will consider that against the rights of our members and licensors to be fairly remunerated ahead of launch late next year.”

Venues playing recorded music for the purpose of dancing have been invited to provide feedback on proposals online. The consultation papers can be accessed at onemusic.com.au/consultations

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.

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