Performing to modern music -licensing

[thewinelake]

So DD is trying to put together a set to perform at a University May Ball and is looking around for music.

 

One question relates to licensing of music at such events. I presume that the event organisers will have some form of licence, even if just for a "disco", but how would that relate to dance background music? If one wanted to use, say, a Khachaturian piece less than 100 years old and maybe recorded just 10 years ago, how does one get permission?

[trog]

It might be covered by the ERA licence, assuming the university has one. I work in a college and recorded music used in our dance shows is covered. I would ask the uni.

http://era.org.uk/the-licence

[thewinelake]

Thanks - although I don't see how a May Ball is "Educational Purposes"!

[Nicola H]

1 hour ago, trog said:

It might be covered by the ERA licence, assuming the university has one. I work in a college and recorded music used in our dance shows is covered. I would ask the uni.

http://era.org.uk/the-licence

may also depend on the venue   is it  part of the University, the SU ( that can be interesting   from  exact ownership/ managementpoint of view  as some SU buildings are owned by the HEI   and in others there are Univeristy  owned spaces which are  taken  over by the SU  Out of hours   and iirc  there;s a few SUs where  auditoriaum / cinema  spaces  get used by the university  for large capacity  lecture  theatres   or is the event at  an external  venue ... 

[thewinelake]

This would be in a college (to be precise, we're talking Jesus College, Cambridge). I would hope that the Ball organisers would be the people who should be in the know, but I was trying to work out what the general rules are!

[Nicola H]

3 minutes ago, thewinelake said:

This would be in a college (to be precise, we're talking Jesus College, Cambridge). I would hope that the Ball organisers would be the people who should be in the know, but I was trying to work out what the general rules are!

 

may  well come under the University depending on the exact status of the relationship between the colleges in the traditional collegiate  institutions and the University  itself. 

I suspect  that the  College or a University source will be fully familiar  with the  provisions 

[annaliesey]

Surely the venue itself would have license as they must have oodles of events there

 

there’s some info on the .gov website that might help saying it’s not normally needed if audience less than 500 and between certain hours 

 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/entertainment-licensing-changes-under-the-live-music-act#do-i-need-a-licence-to-put-on-a-play-or-a-performance-of-dance

[thewinelake]

Yes, I think it's not going to be a problem. Not sure where this paranoia came from!

[taxi4ballet]

A friend of mine works for the PRS. The venue should be licenced anyway, so there shouldn't be a problem with permission. The PRS has a complex method to work out what music gets performed where, and they use their statistical model to calculate any royalties etc - which I presume comes out of the licence fees collected.