Do I need a license for Indie Musicians and other special cases

[rawaradio]

Hi,

I have a station that was hosted on live365 for many years, but I had to move due to the collapse of that platform. I moved it to radionomy.com but I don't think I will be able to meet the audience thresholds there, and I also find the service a bit weird. That is why I am contemplating using radio.co . Radio.co does not pay licensing fees and that brings me to a question:

 

I play a lot of spiritual music from India produced by my own organization and I don't think I need a license to broadcast that in the US or other places. However, I also would like to play music manufactured in the US by unsigned Indie musicians such as myself. I am affiliated, as an artist, with BMI, so one question that I have is as follows: Can I play my own music on my own station without getting a license from BMI or any other organization? Similarly, some of my friends have recorded CDs and may or may not be affiliated with a performance rights organization: if these friends give me permission to play their music, can I do so without a blanket license for the station?

 

Any light that you can shed on this would be appreciated.

 

Best Wishes,

Dada Veda

www.rawaradio.com

[Brutish Sailor]

Is the artist or song owned by the bmi, ascap, sesac or sound exchange?

[rawaradio]

In one case, I am the artist (and I would like to play the song on my station). I am affiliated with BMI (they don't "own" the song). In other cases the artists may be affiliated with BMI or ASCAP, but they have given me permission to use the song. Do I still need to be licensed with BMI, ASCAP and SoundExchange to play this music?

[Gsh_MM]

If you speak with the indie artists, or have a form they can sign and send you their music, and be sure to ask them if they are registered with any of the above mentioned places, There is no need for stream licensing. However, if the are registered with any of those places, you wouldn't be able to play any of their music with out having a stream license. If it is your own "original" music (not a cover), then you wouldn't need a streaming license to play your own music. As you own the rights to your own music (again, as long as its not any type of cover, original only), And I'm pretty sure you would give yourself permission to play the "song/s" with no royalty permissions.

 

If the other artist have given you written permission to play their music royalty free (with a list of songs) (This needs to be documented and signed by them or their manager, etc), You shouldn't need any type of streaming license to play those songs.