I'm not sure if it's still true today, but it used to be the case in Mexico that playing recorded music in a business required paying considerable royalties. T

I'm not sure if it's still true today, but it used to be the case in Mexico that playing recorded music in a business required paying considerable royalties. This has interesting side-effect: hiring a live musician or a small band became an attractive alternative, and so the restaurants and bars are filled with live music on the weekends. I think live music is probably something we should get back to. Musicians would obviously be on board because they get to make a few bucks, customers are happy to get some live entertainment with their drinks / meal, business owners are happy because the customers stick around longer. In the digital era, recorded music wants to be free, but it's absolutely an inferior substitute to live performances, and I strongly feel that anything that helps musicians support themselves via performances is good for our culture.