I have one question. How does ASCAP or anyone else
know what songs we're or weren't performed, and how do they
know without knowing this info which artists get paid what amount
of performance fees?
I don't know how they can meter which songs are being played in clubs and
restaurants - live or on radio - but it couldn't be less accurate than the
way they used to measure radio play.
Used to, they sent "listeners" to cities and towns from sea to shining
sea. The listener would take a hotel room and set up a radio. He'd
channel surf all day long and write down the titles of the songs he heard.
Yep, that's what they did. Ascap and BMI then did some simple math to
extrapolate how many plays that meant, going into the ears of how many
people. Not only was this fantastically inaccurate, but a really serious
problem was caused by the fact that you cannot copyright a title. A sloppy
listener might note that the song "Day By Day" was being played on a big
station in a big market, but was it the Day By Day written by Sammy Cahn,
or the one written by Stephen Schwartz for Godspell? Both were BIG hits,
both were getting radio play at the same time.
Sammy Cahn was publicy furious that Stephen Schwartz didn't use a different
title, and neither could know who was getting paid for which airplays.
That problem was finally overcome with the advent of the CD. Radio
stations use CD players that read unique identifier strings off of each CD,
and take note of the number of the song that is being played. That number
is transmitted by wire straight to ASCAP and BMI computers, for a much more
accurate tally.
If we are to believe the story they give out on the matter. This is the
music business, after all.