ARTICLE
Pay Your Music Licensing On Time. Every Time. Music licensing is one of those things that's easy to put off. The bill comes in, it gets set aside, life gets busy, and suddenly it's three weeks past due. No big deal, right? Wrong. This is one of the few bills in the rink business where being late can cost a lot more than a late fee — and rink owners need to take the deadlines seriously. The licensing companies know exactly where you are ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, and GMR aren't guessing about which rinks are out there. They have comprehensive databases of every skating facility in the country. They know the name of the rink, the address, the owner, and whether the license is current. When a payment doesn't come in, they notice. Quickly. What follows isn't a polite reminder card in the mail. It's phone calls. Repeated phone calls. To the rink, to the office, sometimes to the owner directly. And when the calls don't get a response, the next step is legal action — and the licensing companies win those cases. Late payments don't just affect one rink When rinks across the country start falling behind on licensing payments, the licensing companies don't just shrug it off. They ramp up enforcement industry-wide. That means more aggressive outreach, more audits, and more litigation aimed at your rink. January 31st means January 31st There's no gray area on these deadlines. If the bill says January 31st, the payment needs to be in by January 31st. Not February 3rd. Not "the first week of February." The 31st. And here's the part a lot of owners miss: there's an internal deadline before the licensing company deadline. RSA has to receive payments early enough to process them and submit them to the licensing companies on time. If a rink waits until the last minute to send payment to RSA, the payment may not reach the licensing companies by their deadline — even if it left the rink before the due date on the bill. Missing the internal deadline creates real problems. What to do Build the licensing deadlines into the rink's calendar the same way property tax and insurance renewals are tracked. Pay early when possible. If cash flow is going to be a problem, get ahead of it — call before the deadline, not after. The licensing companies and RSA are far more willing to work with someone who's communicating in advance than with someone who's gone silent past the due date. You can find all of the deadlines here (you will need to log into your membership account). They are staggered throughout the year to make it easier on rinks to pay. The bottom line Music is the product. Skating without music isn't really skating, and the right to play that music is what the licensing fees pay for. Keeping those licenses current protects the rink, protects the industry, and keeps the lawyers and collection calls out of the equation. Pay on time. Every time. The whole industry is better off when everyone does.
Music licensing is one of those things that's easy to put off. The bill comes in, it gets set aside, life gets busy, and suddenly it's three weeks past due. No big deal, right? Wrong. This is one of the few bills in the rink business where being late can cost a lot more than a late fee — and rink owners need to take the deadlines seriously.
ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, and GMR aren't guessing about which rinks are out there. They have comprehensive databases of every skating facility in the country. They know the name of the rink, the address, the owner, and whether the license is current. When a payment doesn't come in, they notice. Quickly.
What follows isn't a polite reminder card in the mail. It's phone calls. Repeated phone calls. To the rink, to the office, sometimes to the owner directly. And when the calls don't get a response, the next step is legal action — and the licensing companies win those cases.
When rinks across the country start falling behind on licensing payments, the licensing companies don't just shrug it off. They ramp up enforcement industry-wide. That means more aggressive outreach, more audits, and more litigation aimed at your rink.
There's no gray area on these deadlines. If the bill says January 31st, the payment needs to be in by January 31st. Not February 3rd. Not "the first week of February." The 31st.
And here's the part a lot of owners miss: there's an internal deadline before the licensing company deadline. RSA has to receive payments early enough to process them and submit them to the licensing companies on time. If a rink waits until the last minute to send payment to RSA, the payment may not reach the licensing companies by their deadline — even if it left the rink before the due date on the bill. Missing the internal deadline creates real problems.
Build the licensing deadlines into the rink's calendar the same way property tax and insurance renewals are tracked. Pay early when possible. If cash flow is going to be a problem, get ahead of it — call before the deadline, not after. The licensing companies and RSA are far more willing to work with someone who's communicating in advance than with someone who's gone silent past the due date.
You can find all of the deadlines here (you will need to log into your membership account). They are staggered throughout the year to make it easier on rinks to pay.
Music is the product. Skating without music isn't really skating, and the right to play that music is what the licensing fees pay for. Keeping those licenses current protects the rink, protects the industry, and keeps the lawyers and collection calls out of the equation. Pay on time. Every time. The whole industry is better off when everyone does.