BMI Expands License Pact Broadcast Music Inc. announced that it will expand its music license agreement with the meetings and trade show industries by including meeting management companies in the pact. The agreement now allows association or show management firms to arrange for music rights on behalf of their clients.
The new provision, designed to expedite the process, will function as a rider to the current blanket license for the meeting industry, which was negotiated in 1997 between BMI and the American Society of Association Executives, Meeting Professionals International, Professional Convention Management Association, and Religious Conference Management Association. The agreement simplified music licensing and based fees on a per attendee rate that includes only those present where live or recorded music is played.
BMI's latest expansion of the 1997 agreement does not address the controversial issue of vicarious liability--trade show organizers are still held liable if an exhibitor plays music without a license, according to Jerry Bailey, spokesman for BMI.
It is a major sore spot for the International Association for Exposition Management (IAEM), because the trade show industry is a different animal among meetings events. Exhibitions often involve tens of thousands of people, and the cost of music licensing can quickly skyrocket.
According to ASAE, there are no plans to reintroduce music licensing legislation in Congress.