Posted by admin on July 16th, 2007 under Club Dance Music

It seems with all the RIAA talk about licensing fees has caused another increase in the Australian dance community. As of July 10th, the Copyright Tribunal sided with artists to approve an application by the Phonographic Performance Company for an increase in music license fees paid to artists and record labels by nightclub venues and dance parties.

It lifted rates for recordings played in nightclubs from seven cents per person a night to $1.05 per person. The dance party rate rises from 20 cents to $3.07 per person.

The nightclub industry fears the increase will send many clubs broke.

Source

After reading the above article, I decided to dig around a little more to confirm what I had just read. I decided to go directly to the Phonographic Performance Company website and this is what they have this to say about the recent approval

On 10 July 2007, the Copyright Tribunal handed down its decision in relation to the PPCA’s proposed nightclub and dance party licensing schemes. Click here to view the Copyright Tribunal’s judgment. With respect to nightclubs, a rate of $1.05 has been set for each person per night of operation, to be calculated on the basis of the venue’s capacity. Further, for dances and dance parties, the Copyright Tribunal adjusted the rate to $3.07 for each person that attends each event. A hearing has been scheduled for 27 July 2007 in which more detailed provisions for the implementation of the new schemes will be considered by the Tribunal. Once this hearing has taken place, PPCA will publish further details on this website. Please note that there will be no changes to the tariffs before 1 August 2007.

Should you have any further questions about the new changes, please contact PPCA on (02) 8569 1100.

With this recent turn of events, we could see a decrease in events as promoters may not be able to absorb such an increase. If an event hosts 1000 people, they would need to find an additional $3,070.00 to run the event. This will have an impact on party goers alike if they in turn they raise the price of admission to cover this increase. Let’s hope for the Australian community that the hearing on July 27th, 2007 provides a better outcome.

As news is released to the public, DanceNode will provide updates to the situation.