BMI offers coffee shops a discount on music licenses

In an effort to encourage music in coffee shops, Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) has created a deeply-discounted music license in cooperation with the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA).

The new license will provide copyright clearance for qualifying coffee shops to perform live and recorded music at discounts of at least 30% less than BMI’s previous fee schedule.

“SCAA came to us to secure discounts for their members who provide entertainment for customers,” said Tom Annastas, BMI Vice President, Licensing. “Coffee shops are incubators for many of our performing songwriters and superstars of the future. Encouraging these businesses to offer music is an idea we support vigorously.”

Annastas said an important component of the license is SCAA’s willingness to administer it for SCAA members, triggering significant savings on BMI’s licensing expenses. He said such coffee shops previously paid about $332 per year, but the new license lowers the fee to $230 at most. The fee will be further reduced as additional SCAA businesses participate, potentially bottoming out at less than $200 annually per location.

To qualify, SCAA member businesses must have a legal occupancy of 50 persons or less, cannot serve alcohol, or charge an admission fee.

“In addition to offering an exceptional cup of coffee, specialty coffee operators provide an experience reflective of the dedication and craft,” commented Ric Rhinehart of SCAA. He continued, “In that way, music is a natural complement and an integral part of what attracts coffee drinkers to specialty. We are delighted to work with BMI and make this pairing more accessible to our members.”

The Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) is the world’s coffee authority and largest coffee trade association with nearly 3,000 member companies. SCAA members are located in more than 40 countries and represent every segment of the specialty coffee industry, including producers, roasters, importers/exporters, retailers, manufacturers, baristas and coffee enthusiasts. SCAA is dedicated to creating a vibrant specialty coffee community, recognizing, developing and promoting specialty coffee by setting and maintaining quality standards for the industry; conducting research on coffee, equipment and perfection of craft; and providing education, training, resources and business services for its members. www.scaa.org

Broadcast Music, Inc.® (BMI) is an American performing right organization that represents more than 475,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers in all genres of music and more than 6.5 million works. BMI has represented the most popular and beloved music from around the world for 70 years. The U.S. corporation collects license fees from businesses that use music, which it then distributes as royalties to the musical creators and copyright owners it represents.
www.bmi.com