It only happened to me when I was playing 6 nights a week at a 200 seat restaurant that offered dancing. The owners had never heard of licensing fees for music before.

It would have impacted me right out of a job...but I suggested the owners consider negotiating the fee. They did and got a lower rate than originally asked.

I can't remember the actual fee...but think it was around $500 per annum. After breaking it down on a monthly basis the owners felt a little better about it.

I don't know if this had anything to do with it, but a few months before, a CBS crew came in and did a story about the restaurant and showed me playing to seasonal visitors from Maine. It was my 15 seconds of fame on CBS Sunday Morning.

Eddie