medical office setup

you could use a multichannel amp located near your computer and use something like casa tunes.It all depends on your budget and the type of wiring.I have 16 rooms and most of the rooms do not have speakers but they are out side in the common areas.Also depends on what purpose you want to use them for.I am a GI and am planning on showing videos for informed consent in a couple of rooms.I already have cat 6 wiring inthe rooms and plan on buying cheap amps from Parts express ,some of which cost as little as $ 30 bucks.Would be nice if we could exchange ideas.PM me if interested.

A word to the wise.

It depends on your square footage and how many speakers you plan on having, as well as some other factors, but you might in fact need a public performance license to play music in your office if it is going to be distributed as you describe. I'm not kidding, as much as I wish I were. I strongly urge you to consult with an attorney licensed to practice in your jurisdiction and who is familiar with the issues involved. Someone who regularly advises restaurants and bars should be familiar with the issues I am raising.

There is a dirty little secret in the music licensing business, and that's that the various trade groups (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, et al.) routinely employ innocuous looking persons to "spy" on commercial establishments, including professionals' offices and even nursing homes, for goodness' sake, to see who might be even inadvertently infringing on their members' copyrights. When they find someone who fits the bill, they put on the shakedown in a manner that would make Tony Soprano proud. They will threaten you with the possibility of civil penalties in the tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars and even possibly criminal penalties, but usually ultimately what they want is for you to purchase their annual musical public performance licenses.

Here's a link to a short memo another lawyer prepared (not me) briefly addressing the possible issues involved. They may or may not apply to you, but I thought you might like to know about a possible trap for the unwary. Pay particular attention to the definition of "public performance." In intellectual property law that term has a broader definition than ordinary common sense might suggest.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q...NZOWpqv-A_LfMQ

You're welcome. You should be aware that even just playing songs from the radio, as innocuous as that sounds, can be deemed a "public performance" depending on the circumstances. As I said, it's a trap for the unwary. Although it might not in fact apply to your situation, what you describe raised red flags for me. If you have a regular attorney, it might be worth a call to him or her. If you do not, you might want to consider a brief consultation with one. I have no vested interest in the matter, but it troubles me to see persons possibly accidentally blunder into legal trouble, particularly when it's innocent on their part. Trust me, the music trade groups don't care if your possible infringement is innocent or not. They will shake you down nevertheless (if they learn that you might in fact be infringing on their members' copyrights via "public performance," even by playing the radio in your office so that others can hear, especially if it's essentially piped throughout your common areas).

In this case, an ounce of prevention...

EDIT: An easier way to find out if you might have a possible issue is to ask some colleagues with similar sized offices, or who might use "muzak" for their telephones while callers are on hold. You might find out that they do in fact subscribe to a music licensing service that handles all that business with the trade groups and procures for you the necessary licenses, so you don't have to do it directly yourself. Those services act as an intermediary for you, but the effect is the same; you end up purchasing a public performance license for your business. Again, YMMV, as it may not apply to you. Ask around. You may be surprised at what you find out.

Thanks,to me worrying about malpractice lawyers is enough do not want any more trouble,music is discontinued! silence is golden

You don't have to do without music altogether. There's a right way and a wrong way to have music in your business, however, unless you legitimately fall within one of the limited exemptions.

Read Muzak's explanation of the potential problem and their own solution. There are other competing services that do the same thing.

http://www.muzak.com/products/music/licensing