Good Stuff From the Crown Council Email Network
by Greg Sneyd
 Greg Sneyd, Director of DentalSuccess says: Chris and Chris were at it again this week. Last week on the Crown Council email network they had an excellent dialog about patient financing and debt consolidation. This week they talk about paying royalties on recorded music played in your practice.
Dr. Chris Chaffin asks:
I had an “audio specialist” come into the office the other day to give me a quote on installing a system and some speakers in our new lease space. One of the first questions he asked me was,” well, what are you going to run through it? Radio is free… then there is Muzak…they charge a monthly fee.” “The last thing you would want to have happen is to have a rep from ASCAP come by and find out you were listening to unlicensed music.”
When asked to clarify, he said that there are these ASCAP people who will come around, sit in your reception area for a few minutes listening to what’s on the audio, take a few notes and leave. Then the next thing you have is a lawsuit because if you weren’t listening to the radio, and you weren’t signed up for a subscription service, then the conclusion is you are listening to unlicensed music on CD’s or tapes and we as a commercial establishment have no right to do that”. They would fine you according to the maximum fire code occupancy possible in your square footage, i.e. 60 people, or whatever.
I remember hearing of some articles surfacing a year or so ago about “unlicensed music” etc. I asked a lecturing consultant about it at the local dental conference and she thought it was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard of. She said that every dental office she has been in listened to CD’s all the time.
From talking with the audio guy who came in, CDs are licensed only for “private, home use” and using them in a dental practice would be commercial, --end of license and start of big fees to “enhance” the commercial environment.
This seems to me very frustrating, I’ve had plans of letting patients view DVDs during their longer appointments, but apparently they are only for “private use”. One could argue that they are being privately used by, or loaned to, or rented for the patient’s private use. Does this blow our whole concept of music and videos for top-notch customer service? Is it a can of worms that most people ignore and do what they want anyway? Has anyone ever had a problem with this?
Using this type of thinking, we can’t even listen to our favorite stack of Christmas CD’s at Christmas time, can’t purchase a DVD to have on hand for a selection for patients, can’t buy CD’s for them to listen to or DVDs to watch. The idea of asking them which movie they would like to watch and then renting it for them from Blockbuster for their next appointment is in question also. Couldn’t one argue that if the business bought it and paid for it, then the business should be able to use it for the business?
I would appreciate your input.
Thanks
Chris
Dr. Chris Bowman responded with:
Hi Chris,
This one's easy.
My aunt lives in LA and she's the VP of music for TV and motion pictures with ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers). BMI is the other company that does the same thing. Both companies are music-licensing companies with memberships of people who write songs, books, articles, etc. Their job is to protect copyrights and negotiate contracts for royalties for songs played on the radio, sold on CDs, etc. If you write a song, you join ASCAP or BMI, and they keep track of where your music is played or sold, and you get the pre-negotiated royalties. Example: John Williams wrote the score of Jurassic Park. If Jurassic Park is the Sunday night movie on ABC, then John Williams will get a royalty based on a ratings formula for every minute his music is playing during the movie, because his music enhances the film. It's a huge business.
That's good for us. ASCAP spends virtually all of their time focusing on retail businesses. It's possible but very unlikely that anyone from ASCAP or BMI would waste their time trying to squeeze a few nickels out of you because you play CD's. Also, if you play the music for the enhancement of the work environment of your employees, and not the benefit of the patients (by your definition), you're off the hook, because royalties are only paid if the music results in an enhancement of customer environment, and sales.
In short, don't worry about what the rep said, he's trying to sell you his stuff. That said, there is a huge benefit to having non-radio music...no commercials. I've played CDs for years, but you've got to keep buying and rotating them, or they'll get old fast. I switched to Dish Network music stations and I'm having trouble finding a consistent station or two, but I'm picky about my music. My patients frequently commented about the music when it was CDs, now they don't as much. I'm looking into XM (satellite radio), and going back to CDs. If you do CDs make sure you get a 200 or 300 disc changer...you don't want to be going back every two days to change 25 CDs!
Hope this helps,
Chris
Chris Bowman, DDS
All Smiles of Charlotte
Advanced Cosmetic and Family Dentistry
Charlotte, NC
704-337-8070
www.smilemax.com
Once again Chris asks an excellent question and Chris provides excellent advice. There were several other responses to this question but one of note was from Dr. Jon Fuller in Moab, Utah:
Chris:
A few years ago the Music Police struck in little Moab, Utah (pop. 4000, and the largest town for 100 miles in all directions) and nailed several businesses. According to the information we got, even listening to commercial radio in a business is illegal unless you pay an annual fee.
So is listening to your own CD's. We opted to sign up for digital
cable radio for $30/month (only $10/month additional if you have cable TV in the office as well, which we don't). The fees are already paid by the cable company. The system has about 30 channels, and we just let whichever patient has the longest appointment at the time pick what they want to hear.
Jon
So be careful out there. Chances are it probably won’t happen but be on the lookout. You’ll never know when the “music police” might come into your practice.
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