[a fool in paradise]

Believe it or not, ASCAP actually sends people to public places such as restaurants, bars and retail shops and if they hear music that is protected by copyright and the proprietor is not paying the necessary royalty, he can get assessed a fine and even be sued. I believe businesses have actually been shut down over this.

And virtually not a dime of that money is paid to the artists who were actually played in that building.

There is no "playlist log", no audits of the music, strictly "are any ASCAP artists played".

It's a shakedown racket. Pay your protection fee to the muscle (and they are big guys) or face consequences.

[SamAdams76]

I think the recording artists have been screwed over for decades. There are examples of a band's debut album going gold and their royalties are almost nothing after such things as "marketing expenses" get deducted from them.

That's a main reason all these aging bands still tour. Concerts are their main source of revenue. Only the biggest acts can make a living on royalties alone, even though they sold many records and had their songs played on radio countless times.