The CPDJA: SOCAN & AVLA licensing

The Canadian Professional Disk Jockey Association (CPDJA) has surely seen an increase revenue in the past 5 years because of the rise of music sharing and online piracy. First, the CPDJA issues licences called SOCAN licenses (Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada). This gives venue owners permission to play live music that has been copyrighted without first contacting the label (this would obviously be a huge pain). A SOCAN license allows types of performance except any performance that requires the use of a hard drive. To be a part of the wave of MIDI DJs playing in todays nightclubs one must acquire a AVLA license (Audio-Video Licensing Agency) at a cost of $300+. AVLA licensing allows the permission to play remixes, bootlegs, edits, mashups and covers that have been downloaded from the internet. These licenses are interesting because they remove those committed DJs from the group of people who must fear the day someone knocks on your door and arrests you simply to make an example of you.

Eric Casey