Indie Venues Call For ‘Dismantling’ the PRO’s Blanket Licensing Practice
Categoria: Musica
Members of the National Independent Venue Association and the National Independent Talent Organizations discuss the issues and solutions surrounding PROs' use of blanket licenses.
Por Billboard | 12/06/2026
City Winery owner Michael Dorf said he gets letters all the time from performing rights organizations (PROs) like BMI, SESAC and AllTrack when he pushes back on the blanket licensing practice that requires live music venues — as well as other businesses that play music — to pay a set fee for the songs being played in their establishments. The money collected from the businesses goes to the PROs, that then distribute the funds to the songwriters they represent. But Dorf, who also owns Michael Dorf Presents and founded the original Knitting Factory venue in New York, said these letters are in response to him asking the individual PROs to specify what songs of theirs were played on his stage. The letter in hand from AllTrack, Dorf explained from the annual National Independent Venue Alliance conference in Minneapolis earlier this week, threatened fines of up to $150,000 per track used if he does not obtain the appropriate license. Related NIVA ’26 Conference to Focus on Live Music in a ‘Post Monopoly World’ Carly Pearce Signs With BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville Clive Davis Hospitalized in New York After Respiratory Issue — UPDATE “This is mafioso, thug-like practices,” Dorf tells the room of independent venue owners, promoters, talent agents and more during the PROs, Policy, and the Live Music Economy panel at NIVA’26. “This is an outdated law, and it’s being abused. It’s making everyone nervous that they are going to get sued.” “My question would be, is it the law itself that is the problem or is it the way the PROs are leveraging it?” said Ella Yates , senior adviser to the House Judiciary Committee at the conference. Yates started her career in Congress in 2016 working for then-Congressman Doug Collins during the Music Modernization Act negotiations. “Because they’re suggesting you can’t go work by work. ‘You have to get this blanket license. Sorry, deal with it.’ And that’s not really a federal law. That’s just a business practice.” The panel — moderated by xBK Live venue owner and Tour Tech co-founder Tobi Parks — was set to discuss the concerns independent venues are having with the practice of blanket licensing used by PROs in the U.S. and how that bloating cost is hurting both the artists and the venues they tour in. The topic was a looming concern for NIVA members attending the conference from June 7-10 throughout independent venues in the city. Nathaniel Marro , executive director of the National Independent Talent Organization (NITO), told the audience that he believes PROs work for 85% to 90% of what artists need to get paid for the use of their work, but that the blanket licensing practice seems like “a very serious hole in the bucket.” Depending on the show deal, the PRO fees can be coming out of the artist’s pocket. Marro explained that NITO conducted studies in 2025 that found that some artists were paying upward of $15,000 on tour to PROs and receiving just $26 back for playing their own works