Condo Association Facing the Music (Royalties, that is!)

C.J. from Middlesex County writes:

Dear Mister Condo,

Is our condo association required to pay music royalties to organizations such as SESAC?

Mister Condo replies:

C.J., I am always impressed when I get a “first time question”. No one has ever asked me about music royalties as they pertain to condominium associations so congratulations on your “first time question”. Here’s my first time answer! If your condo association has a pool, club house, recreation room, or any common amenity where music is played, the association might have to pay a royalty fee to SESAC, ASCAP, BMI or any one of another of firms that specialize in collection of royalties for musical artists. If the association plays music on the common grounds, these organizations have a right to collect royalties on behalf of their clients – the composers, musicians, and artists who make the music that is being played. I don’t know about you, C.J., but that is not music to my ears! Thanks for the question!