Is it still true or was it ever?

[MsShy]

I am co-owner of a club and had heard that DJs should not play any music by Nickleback or Prince because it isn't allowed by linden labs. Then heard it is ok for a DJ to play Nickleback but it still isn't ok for a DJ to play anything by Prince. Recently one of our DJs said they were told by linden labs that they can play music by Prince. Has anyone ever heard whether or not it was ever an issue to play music by either one and if so, is it ok to now? 

[davidventer]

Technically speaking, any DJ performing live should only do so if they are licensed to do so, and if they pay royalty fees for every tune they stream. Most DJ’s on SL aren’t even real DJ’s and they play pirated stuff ripped off YouTube, don’t even live-mix, and don’t even have any idea how the music industry even operates. 

The reason why Linden Lab allows third-party streams in SL is so that they’re basically distancing themselves from all the copyright laws; Not their streams, not their problem. Also, that’s why there is a time/duration limit on sounds that you can upload into SL. They’ve covered their bases in that regard. You can’t upload an entire song as a single audio file. 

The only way that any DJ is actually legally DJ’ing and supporting the music industry is to source his or her music through a platform that pays royalties to the artist/producer every time a tune is played. Most real DJ’s use Beatport Link for that. If you rip your tunes off YouTube, you're breaking the law. If you buy your tunes from Amazon, Spotify, iTunes, whatever, and you stream the tunes you've bought - You're still breaking the law. Royalties must be paid for every song, every time you broadcast a song that is not your own production. The safest way to ensure royalty payment on each tune played is to use a service like Beatport Link. BUT... In addition to that, DJ’s also require broadcasting licenses in the country from which they are broadcasting - this applies to broadcasting online as well, regardless of how small or obscure the audience is (Broadcasting to a tiny crowd or to “friends” in Second Life is not exempt from this). These laws and licenses vary per country but most require registration and royalty payments of some form. Alternatively, the DJ needs to have a direct agreement with the artist and/or producer of the music for permission to play their tunes.

Also, in cases where the DJ can’t secure licensing to legally broadcast, the venue is required to do so. In the case where a venue is licensed to broadcast, any DJ playing at the venue falls under that license. The same applies to radio stations. In Second Life, a club can basically be perceived as a radio station - technically speaking, all SL clubs need to, by law, be licensed to broadcast, or require that their DJ’s be licensed to broadcast, otherwise everyone is breaking the law.

TLDR: Most Clubs and DJ’s on SL are breaking the law. Luckily, for such clubs and DJ’s; SL is so small and obscure that all of this goes unnoticed by the music industry but, unfortunately, we now have thousands of fake DJ’s earning real money from playing unlicensed and/or pirated music when a portion of that money should be going towards supporting the actual artists/producers of said music. It’s a mess.   

Source: I’m a RL DJ/Producer. I have music out on multiple platforms. I know how the industry operates. When I DJ and play music that is not my own, I pay royalties on all the music I play/mix and I’m licensed for public performance. When DJ'ing in SL; most of the time, the small amount of tips received for playing in SL doesn't even cover my licensing costs, let alone my streaming server or Beatport link subscription, so I don't perform often in Second Life, and when I do, I require sufficient payment in order to cover my costs otherwise it's just not worth it. 

Edited February 15, 2022 by davidventer
Fixing Typos

[Mollymews]

depending on rl country, internet DJs typically need to have a public broadcast license for all music (not their own) they play.  Linden don't get into deciding what music is/is not licensed, the responsibility for deciding/determining this is the parcel owners

Edited February 15, 2022 by Mollymews
(..)

[Rowan Amore]

This sounds more like someone using LL as their excuse not to have to play Nickleback or Prince.

[bigmoe Whitfield]

12 hours ago, davidventer said:

Technically speaking, any DJ performing live should only do so if they are licensed to do so, and if they pay royalty fees for every tune they stream. Most DJ’s on SL aren’t even real DJ’s and they play pirated stuff ripped off YouTube, don’t even live-mix, and don’t even have any idea how the music industry even operates. 

The reason why Linden Lab allows third-party streams in SL is so that they’re basically distancing themselves from all the copyright laws; Not their streams, not their problem. Also, that’s why there is a time/duration limit on sounds that you can upload into SL. They’ve covered their bases in that regard. You can’t upload an entire song as a single audio file. 

The only way that any DJ is actually legally DJ’ing and supporting the music industry is to source his or her music through a platform that pays royalties to the artist/producer every time a tune is played. Most real DJ’s use Beatport Link for that. If you rip your tunes off YouTube, you're breaking the law. If you buy your tunes from Amazon, Spotify, iTunes, whatever, and you stream the tunes you've bought - You're still breaking the law. Royalties must be paid for every song, every time you broadcast a song that is not your own production. The safest way to ensure royalty payment on each tune played is to use a service like Beatport Link. BUT... In addition to that, DJ’s also require broadcasting licenses in the country from which they are broadcasting - this applies to broadcasting online as well, regardless of how small or obscure the audience is (Broadcasting to a tiny crowd or to “friends” in Second Life is not exempt from this). These laws and licenses vary per country but most require registration and royalty payments of some form. Alternatively, the DJ needs to have a direct agreement with the artist and/or producer of the music for permission to play their tunes.

Also, in cases where the DJ can’t secure licensing to legally broadcast, the venue is required to do so. In the case where a venue is licensed to broadcast, any DJ playing at the venue falls under that license. The same applies to radio stations. In Second Life, a club can basically be perceived as a radio station - technically speaking, all SL clubs need to, by law, be licensed to broadcast, or require that their DJ’s be licensed to broadcast, otherwise everyone is breaking the law.

TLDR: Most Clubs and DJ’s on SL are breaking the law. Luckily, for such clubs and DJ’s; SL is so small and obscure that all of this goes unnoticed by the music industry but, unfortunately, we now have thousands of fake DJ’s earning real money from playing unlicensed and/or pirated music when a portion of that money should be going towards supporting the actual artists/producers of said music. It’s a mess.   

Source: I’m a RL DJ/Producer. I have music out on multiple platforms. I know how the industry operates. When I DJ and play music that is not my own, I pay royalties on all the music I play/mix and I’m licensed for public performance. When DJ'ing in SL; most of the time, the small amount of tips received for playing in SL doesn't even cover my licensing costs, let alone my streaming server or Beatport link subscription, so I don't perform often in Second Life, and when I do, I require sufficient payment in order to cover my costs otherwise it's just not worth it. 

I had loud city (not loudcity.fm) licenseing when I had joined SL,  that was let's just say not cheap and had restrictions,  then they was bought out by live365, I stayed with it until 2009 and then dropped them,  now am wanting to get back into it,  spacial has offers, so maybe them.

[Lucia Nightfire]

14 hours ago, Rowan Amore said:

This sounds more like someone using LL as their excuse not to have to play Nickleback or Prince.

To be fair, no one should have to listen to Nickelback...😆

Joking....mostly...

[Kathlen Onyx]

I was at a club recently where the DJ said something like they aren't supposed to play music by a certain artist but since it was a duet it was ok. The song was say, say, say by Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney. Not sure which artist they were talking about though or if it was a joke or not.