Performing rights Society tries to force Macclesfield musical instrument shop owner to pay for songs customers play on his instruments!

FUMING: Steve Kowalski is refusing to pay.MUSIC shop boss Steve Kowalski has been told he will have to pay to play if his customers want to try out his instruments before they buy.

And that, he says, is a fiddle.

The Performing Rights Society claims he needs a licence if he, or any of his punters, want to "have a go" on anything from a harmonica to a harpsichord or castanets to clarinets.

And officers have told him that if he doesn’t stump up cash to the tune of £114 he will have to face the music.

But Steve, 53, who is gob-smacked by the order, said: "They can go whistle!"

He says he wants the threat removing – no strings attached!

Talking from his shop, the well-established Jones Music on Charlotte Street in Macclesfield, he asked: "Has anyone used their common sense here?"

Steve, who took over the 78-year-old established business a year ago, received a call out of the blue from PRS who asked if he or his customers tried out musical instruments.

He said: "I thought, what a daft question, of course we do."

When he said they did, they told him that if anyone played a riff – an identifiable piece of music – he was in breach of copyright and was breaking the law.

"They said it constituted a public performance!" he gasped. "I thought someone was winding me up.

"I have never heard anything so ridiculous in my life. It means that customers will either have to try something out without the piece sounding melodious or they will have to buy it untried.

"I am certainly not going to pay for a licence. I am making a stand for all musical instrument shops who are just going about their business."

When Steve, who lives in Macclesfield with partner Sally, asked PRS what they were going to do about it, they told him they would send in their copyright protection squad.

"I could tell that meant trouble," he said.

Steve, who himself plays lead guitar in a band, ironically called "Rough Trade", said the cost of the licence was determined by the size of the shop and since Jones Music was 1,500 square feet he would be in for a £114 bill.

"It’s not the money," he said. "It is the principal. I don’t intend to rock over this one."

Keith Gilbert, PRS Performance Sales Director said: "Royalties are crucial – they keep songwriters and musicians writing more music. And royalties are paid by everyone that plays music in public.

"Music shops pay like everyone else, but get a 30 per cent discount if their only music use is for demonstration purposes."

That said, I know ASCAP will go into little deli's and donut shops and muscle the owners if they're playing a radio or something. They're like attack dogs.

So, if they implement this, will Davey Graham's income increase? I hope so...

Actually, I think Berlin had much more of a case than these guys do.

Well, most punters aren't rich and most big-name popstars are rich. That's how it works. Except in this case - Deep Purple and Led Zep must be furious that they don't get a 90% cut.

(who'd get the royalties if it was a shop that only sold bass guitars?)

a song by a melbourne dude is the theme tune for jamie oliver's latest show

Ah well, the only royalties I ever got were from Canadia. Hurrah!

I was agreeing with Matt: PRS charge for membership and distribute the money to a few big names by an inequitable system. I became a member by signing a record contract once and rang them up to ask what they'd do for me; they simply passed my call from one blathering mouth to another until I got so bored I hung up.