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Band Licences

LowNloud1

LowNloud1

Commercial User
Jun 11, 2012
711
1,100
Wilmington NC
www.facebook.com
Disclosures
I am a hobbyist making stone picks that I sell but mostly give away. They made me do this anyways.
#1
Saw a notice that Myrtle Beach SC is demanding that resident musicians obtain an musician's license for $100/year. The fine is $1065 and they claim they are enforcing it heavily this year.

They claim it is to track them as a business and that bands that make more than $15,000/year will have to pay more.

Have any of you seen anything like this where you live?

(Article about it 6 posts below)
 
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#4
LowNloud1 said:
Saw a notice that Myrtle Beach SC is demanding that resident musicians obtain an musician's license for $100/year. The fine is $1065 and they claim they are enforcing it heavily this year.

They claim it is to track them as a business and that bands that make more than $15,000/year will have to pay more.

Have any of you seen anything like this where you live?
Click to expand...
Well, I guess so long as we are residents of NC this doesn't apply to us, however I find it a bit disturbing that they find it necessary to legislate musicians as a group. They must be pretty dispirit when the bike riders come to town for bike week and they can't really give out many speeding tickets to riders traveling at 25 MPH. thru town to fill the town's coffers, I guess.
 
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#8
From an article:

A Musician's License to Play In a Bar?? Yep it's true here in Myrtle Beachany working musician in Myrtle Beach now needs a Musician's License at $100 or face a ticket?? What? Are you kidding me?? It has come to my attention any working musician in Myrtle Beach now needs a Musician's License at $100 or face a ticket?? What? Are you kidding me??
First the City charges people and residents to park near the beach, then they pass this phony baloney supposedly "Tourist Paid" 1% sales tax increase, which as a full time resident I am paying 12 months / 365 days per year as are all the other year round and full time residents, so we are paying the bulk of this phony tax.
Now any working musician, who most likely is making $100 for the night, which by the way was what we made in 1985, has to get "taxed" by getting a musician license to play a bar, club or restaurant in MB? Are they serious?? AND a license may cost two hundred something dollars as you have to estimate your income, and that goes in to deciding how much your license will cost. I don't think it's always as simple as buying a $100 license, unfortunately.
Why do the bar and restaurants not have an umbrella license to cover acts in their establishment. . .oh wait they do... It's called a cabaret license which any bar, club and restaurant has to pay the city in order to have live music.
However now the city wants to put their hands in the pockets of part time or full time musicians?? For what??
We find this new MB Musician's License damaging and unacceptable to this already decimated Music Industry on the Grand Strand.
We wanted you folks in the mayor's office and council members to know this music industry is hurting terribly from just 10-15 years ago. This is not going to help us or you have quality entertainment in the city of Myrtle Beach. Sign this petition to STOP the Myrtle Beach Musician's License
Rich Johnson
Surfside Beach, SC
Sign the P{etition to Stop the Myrtle Beach Musician's License

Stop Myrtle Beach Musician's License:

The press has got a hold of this and it is taking off fast. Just finished an interview with WMBF-TV and Myrtle BeachSC.com. Both video package interviews and the Sun News have called for an interview. Keep you all posted. BTW both Mayor Roads and Councilman Wayne Gray are both up for re-election in November.

I heard from my friend last Friday who went and got the Musician's License today (1/6) they banged him for the last three years on top of this year!! And BTW the license starts in May so he has to pay the last three years and then pay again in May. Also.. the city is cracking down on bars so the bars can now be fined as well as the musicians AND they are not letting bars pay us in cash any more, the city is forcing establishments to pay by check and issue I-9's. That's the gov't now telling businesses how they can or canoe pay their bills?? This is ridiculous

We have it on good authority the City has instructed the Myrtle Beach Police Dept. to really crack down on these musician licenses. . .I would like to call for all musicians to boycott playing at ANY City of Myrtle Beach establishment. I do believe though that if we stick together we can defeat this thing.

I have been contacted by musicians in Charleston now who are now behind us and this fight and signing our petition it because they do not want this to spread down their way. Our brothers and sisters in the music industry in SC are behind us in this fight to defeat the Myrtle Beach Musicians license and to DEFEAT Mayor Rhodes and Councilman Wayne Gray in November of 2017.

With almost a thousand signatures on this petition, we can now fundraise off the petition and I intend on using these monies to buy ads in the Sun News to fight City Hall on this issue. Other rallies and plans are in the works on this as well. Stay Tuned. . .

Here is the link to the story and video we did at Musicians Upset Over Musicians' Tax - Myrtle Beach SC and here is the link to the petition and project I am spearheading now. Stop Myrtle Beach Musician's License:
 
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#10
LowNloud1 said:
From an article:

A Musician's License to Play In a Bar?? Yep it's true here in Myrtle Beachany working musician in Myrtle Beach now needs a Musician's License at $100 or face a ticket?? What? Are you kidding me?? It has come to my attention any working musician in Myrtle Beach now needs a Musician's License at $100 or face a ticket?? What? Are you kidding me??
First the City charges people and residents to park near the beach, then they pass this phony baloney supposedly "Tourist Paid" 1% sales tax increase, which as a full time resident I am paying 12 months / 365 days per year as are all the other year round and full time residents, so we are paying the bulk of this phony tax.
Now any working musician, who most likely is making $100 for the night, which by the way was what we made in 1985, has to get "taxed" by getting a musician license to play a bar, club or restaurant in MB? Are they serious?? AND a license may cost two hundred something dollars as you have to estimate your income, and that goes in to deciding how much your license will cost. I don't think it's always as simple as buying a $100 license, unfortunately.
Why do the bar and restaurants not have an umbrella license to cover acts in their establishment. . .oh wait they do... It's called a cabaret license which any bar, club and restaurant has to pay the city in order to have live music.
However now the city wants to put their hands in the pockets of part time or full time musicians?? For what??
We find this new MB Musician's License damaging and unacceptable to this already decimated Music Industry on the Grand Strand.
We wanted you folks in the mayor's office and council members to know this music industry is hurting terribly from just 10-15 years ago. This is not going to help us or you have quality entertainment in the city of Myrtle Beach. Sign this petition to STOP the Myrtle Beach Musician's License
Rich Johnson
Surfside Beach, SC
Sign the P{etition to Stop the Myrtle Beach Musician's License

Stop Myrtle Beach Musician's License:

The press has got a hold of this and it is taking off fast. Just finished an interview with WMBF-TV and Myrtle BeachSC.com. Both video package interviews and the Sun News have called for an interview. Keep you all posted. BTW both Mayor Roads and Councilman Wayne Gray are both up for re-election in November.

I heard from my friend last Friday who went and got the Musician's License today (1/6) they banged him for the last three years on top of this year!! And BTW the license starts in May so he has to pay the last three years and then pay again in May. Also.. the city is cracking down on bars so the bars can now be fined as well as the musicians AND they are not letting bars pay us in cash any more, the city is forcing establishments to pay by check and issue I-9's. That's the gov't now telling businesses how they can or canoe pay their bills?? This is ridiculous

We have it on good authority the City has instructed the Myrtle Beach Police Dept. to really crack down on these musician licenses. . .I would like to call for all musicians to boycott playing at ANY City of Myrtle Beach establishment. I do believe though that if we stick together we can defeat this thing.

I have been contacted by musicians in Charleston now who are now behind us and this fight and signing our petition it because they do not want this to spread down their way. Our brothers and sisters in the music industry in SC are behind us in this fight to defeat the Myrtle Beach Musicians license and to DEFEAT Mayor Rhodes and Councilman Wayne Gray in November of 2017.

With almost a thousand signatures on this petition, we can now fundraise off the petition and I intend on using these monies to buy ads in the Sun News to fight City Hall on this issue. Other rallies and plans are in the works on this as well. Stay Tuned. . .

Here is the link to the story and video we did at Musicians Upset Over Musicians' Tax - Myrtle Beach SC and here is the link to the petition and project I am spearheading now. Stop Myrtle Beach Musician's License:
Click to expand...
This applies to any musician playing in Myrtle Beach?
BOYCOTT!!!
Shut off their live music until saner heads prevail!
 
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#17
Richland123 said:
So, what about a DJ license?
Click to expand...
The rule applys to (from the Myrtle Beach License Regulations page:

Every person engaged or intending to engage in any calling, business, occupation or profession, in whole or in part, within the limits of the city is required to pay an annual license tax for the privilege of doing business and obtain a business license as herein provided, to include charitable and not-for-profit organizations as provided herein; provided however, a business license shall not be required for a promoter or vendor that is a participant in an event or convention that is contained within the interior meeting or convention space of a hotel or motel and where said event or convention is not open to the public and attendance is by registration only.

This is not happening where I live but it is starting to spread. Remain vigilant. It may be coming your way soon.
 
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#18
Im curious about this. A hot dog vendor for example needs a license. But there are food safety issues at play there. My wife needs a license to run her salon out of our house. Then again she's applying chemicals to scalps. Builders need licenses, and homes need to meet code. A band is a business so I can see where this is coming from, but there is no set of standards on what a band delivers. I ask, do wedding photographers need licenses? Do DJ's?
There are possible upsides to this. Would this reduce the amount of lowball freebie giggers out there? Could musicians charge a little more now for increased legitimacy?
 
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