Resist Corporate Music

Since its' establishment as an organization, AS220 has declared a boycott of music licensed by ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC. All material performed at AS220 must be original or in the public domain, which means:

• Artists hold the copyright to all their songs, or
• All their songs are in the public domain, or
• Artists have been granted permission to perform the material by the copyright holder, or
• Artists have been granted permission to perform the material by a licensing scheme that encourages the free sharing of cultural artifacts (such as a Creative Commons license).

Why the Boycott?

How does the boycott help musicians?

The status quo of the music industry won't change unless groups of people can make educated choices about how they create and perform music. We, as artists, can regain control of culture so that Artistic Diversity and freedom will expand in the future. Corporate-controlled (as opposed to people-controlled) licensing creates excessive restrictions on sampling and building our shared culture. It makes it illegal or prohibitively expensive for other artists to use samples, limiting artistic expression.

Maybe you're thinking, "forget art, we want to make money." We too want musicians to make a better living. While we recognize some musicians make a decent cut from royalities paid by performing rights organizations, licensing fees rarely reach those who wrote the music. The statistical system that determines who gets how much doesn't really work when applied to artists who don't fit the curve.

In addition, millions of dollars made on licenses go towards parties, promotional materials, payola, executive salaries, a staff of lawyers, overpriced studios -- money coming from venues and musicians, but benefiting neither.

Please respect our boycott of blanket licensing and the house managers who enforce the boycott. We value your right to freely express yourself artistically and thank you for bringing your work to AS220. Help build our repetoire of music played in the sound booth and the bar by contributing your tape or CD to the house manager.

Frequently Asked Questions

What if I've registered my own music with ASCAP/BMI/SESAC?

You are more than welcome to perform if you're affiliated with a performance rights organizations since you're playing your own music and can do whatever you want with it.

How can I find out if an artist is licensed under these corporations?

ASCAP, BMI and SESAC all have websites with search engines for their repertory. Just type in an artist or song title to find out if they've been registered.

Can I use samples or loops? How much music constitutes a violation of the boycott?

Samples, loops, sound collages, and musical montages can be created as long as a piece of copywritten work only appears one time in the song. You can not use a sample more than once, or repeat it as a loop. This also means you can not create a beat using a sample from someone else's song. Musical parodies or satire fall under the "fair use" doctrine (this gets complicated, check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use) and can be performed, as well as work licensed with the Creative Commons (http://creative commons.org)

Can I have a DJ play music at my gallery opening?

You may have a DJ play their own original music or music from our library of artists who have given AS220 written permission to play their material.

What if my band or I try to slip a cover song into our set?

We get sued, not you. If we're found in violation, we could be charged penalty fees up to $20,000 or get brought to court where ASCAP always wins. So basically, if you decide to ignore this boycott, this performance will be your last show at AS220 and you will have to live with the intense mental anguish that comes from deliberately hurting our feelings.