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For theaters that run background music before the preshow, what is the source of that music? Is it played back on an auditorium by auditorium basis, or is a single music source distributed throughout the theater and fed into an auditorium when needed (resulting in all auditoriums receiving the same music simultaneously)?
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Assuming your question regards the physical source; there's no reason it can't be all of the above.
My quad used the Component Engineering distribution equipment. allowing a single source (CD, sat receiver, ipod, record player, Edison core machine) to feed to all auditoriums, the lobby and the phone "on-hold" input simultaneously. I still use it to feed a balanced signal down to my concessions floor. You could just as easily use most any distribution amplifier capable of balanced outputs.
At the same time, I had players in each screen's rack, so I could play music, specific to a particular title, if I was so inclined.
At my drive-in, Screen 1's feed provides pre-show to all 3 screens, prior to when we start the trailers. At that point, the screens split into their discrete channels, and remain there through the rest of the night.
I don't know if any of this matters to the corporate theatres, given they're all running video ads.Last edited by Jack Ondracek; 09-25-2025, 05:05 PM. -
I just have a sandisk mp3 player plugged into my sound rack.
It just hangs on the side of the rack strapped down with a zip tie. I'd love to find a rackmount mp3 player but they don't appear to exist.Comment
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They most certainly do exist, just perhaps not at a price point you want.
At home, I use a Barix IP audio decoder to pull in web streams for nonsync. Places I've worked in the past used everything from audio over cat5 balun contraptions to CD magazine players, and even FM tuners. It all depends on what you want for nonsync.Comment
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We have a few multiplexes with this requirement and so use a commercial music provider called CustomChannels.net They have been excellent to work with. Their system allows for the creation of as many playlists as you want (mostly dynamically generated based on genre) and versatile scheduling of those playlists, as well as remote volume control. We only have one player per building and play the 'non-sync' audio in the lobby, bathrooms, hallways, and every auditorium during intermission via analog distribution systems that mostly aren't available anymore.
At one location, we had an issue with analog audio distribution and so built a simple digital solution with Raspberry Pi 3B's that used the existing auditorium network to send/receive. In the process we ended up reverse-engineering the CustomChannels player and implemented our own to make the digital distribution easier, a project that took about a month's worth of lunch-hours.
As far as I know the commercial option for us was required due to licensing restrictions of the music, but also very reasonably priced compared to similar internet-radio providers like XM or Pandora. Some good tunes in the auditoriums and common areas promote an atmosphere that is welcoming and lively for customers, and we've gotten several positive comments on the quality of the music we play.
The digital distribution is a bit of a pet project that I'm quite proud of. If anyone is interested here I can post details.Comment
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Really? Could you point me to one, please?They most certainly do exist, just perhaps not at a price point you want.
Anything I've managed to find is some kind of a cd player with a usb port on the front that you can plug a flash drive into. Which ain't the answer because who needs a flash drive sticking out of the front of your sound rack that's guaranteed to get broken off.
I've tried to find a self-contained rackmount mp3 player (not a cd player) that has its own internal storage and I've never managed to find one.Comment
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Thanks! I remember USL made a distribution amplifier for theaters ( http://ftp.uslinc.com/Products/MDS-1...et-English.pdf ). I was just wondering if it is common practice to have a single music source that is distributed to all auditoriums or if it is common practice to have a local audio player in each auditorium. Or which is most common at this point.Comment
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Here's a similar one: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...QaAgYoEALw_wcBOriginally posted by Frank Cox View Post
It has an SD card slot that would be low-profile enought to assuage your concern about a usb drive. There are plenty others like it. I'm not sure I'd want one with internal storage given the tendancy for companies to choose cheap & sketchy storage medium. Internal storage would be more difficult to manage as well. Most computers these days have sd card readers builtin.Comment
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That's certainly the closest to what I have in mind that I've seen yet.
Thanks!Comment
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My venue doesn't deal with walk-in music except for special events when a studio or
private individual rents an auditorium (or even the whole theater) for a special event.
All of our auditoriums have an OPPO player in the rack, so CD's are still playable.
For some people I'll hook up a cheap MP³ player or will hook an audio output to a
laptop or ?️-phone they provide. Many of our corporate clients and sometimes a
studio screening will provide a Spotify playlist. (and don't even get me started on
how much I despise dealing with Spotify playlists, for a number of reasons.)
I've worked a several special events at a couple of multiplex theaters in SF which
had music supplied by a modem-like device which provided a Muzak-type service.
It had an analog output that went to a small rack-mounted DA which then sent
it to all the auditoriums. I don't remember the the name of the company, but they
were specifically in the business of providing walk-in and background music for
theaters. At another, more upscale multiplex, the same company had a device
which had, I think, four 'channels' and there was a sophisticated remote audio
routing set up, so that a 'type' or tempo of music would better match the type of
movie playing. (So, an auditorium playing a romantic movie would be fed a
different type of music than an auditorium with the latest action flick). The
outputs of were 2-ch stereo, and if you listened with headphones it sounded
a little compressed to me, but heck, it's playing at a low level in a room full
of people who are mostly chatting with each other or on their phones anyway,
so I don't think hi-dynamic range was a priority on their system.Last edited by Jim Cassedy; 09-26-2025, 03:47 AM.Comment
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It is worth mentioning Spotify has a commercial license available with most of the same features, I think it takes care of the public playback licensing issues too, if your venue does not already have BMI/ASCAP licensing etc.Comment
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Depending on your location and individual circumstance, simply using one of those licensed music services may not cover you as far as music licensing is concerned.
I asked the people at SOCAN (which is the Canadian equivalent of BMI/ASCAP, approximately) about simply not playing music before the shows and thereby not having to pay them for their license.
They advised me that this would not relieve me of the obligation to give them money because the movies have music in them and that also has to be licensed from them.
It amazes me that they figure the movie companies don't have the rights to publicly perform the music that's included in their movies, especially when the music provider and the movie company are the same company in many cases, but that's what I was told.
So I have to pay them every year....Comment
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Wait, they are charging you for the music license for music that occurs within the feature proper? This seems like bogus to me, they might be ripping you off, but then again I'm not in Canada to understand the nuances there. I would have thought the studios paid those licenses and that was the sum total of it.Originally posted by Frank Cox View PostComment
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The art deco 'Orinda Theatre' in Orinda CA just plays the same old classical CD music over and over before the movie starts with their bright work lights on. You hear the same disk each time you go. I asked about It as I wanted to bring some of my theatre Wurlitzer pipe organ CD stereo music with showtunes ect to bring them to play. They told me that the CD disk is stuck with the same CD and they can't get It out of the machine. Next time I go will have to see If things have changed in the Orinda projection booth with a new CD player that has a Dolby optical output, they do make them I have a few old ones.
I may bring them a used CD player and a collection of pre show and exit theatre organ music. No church or classical music but up tempo organ sounds.
I have brought many of my pipe organ CD disks to owners and managers to play in movie cinemas out of speakers hidden behind former pipe organ side movie theatre grills lit up with color lights. Sounds like a real oragn playing. The Wurlitzer pipe organ has a great stereo effect as the pipes have different sounds from the right and left chambers.
Some classic theatres I have visited over the years like the 'Castro Theatre' in San Francisco CA had a smart showmanship projectionist and they played theme music from the films soundtrack they where showing or western type music before a cowboy film ect or a musical sound before a music type movie.
Do movie theatres have to pay ASCAP or BMI to play popular copyright CD music in their theatres like many restaurants have to?
You will never find this going on at a boring USA movie chain type venue. No room for walk in music as they are showing commercials instead. No music no curtains or color lights . Just like watching TV ads at home no class.
People just stay home and stream and keep on paying the increased TV fees. If the public as a mass group refused and did a boycot on jacked up new fees these greedy streamers would stop asking for more money every year.Comment
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Yes.they are charging you for the music license for music that occurs within the feature proper?
That is indeed how one would expect it to work, and I pointed that out to them repeatedly, but they told me that's not the case and I still have to pay.This seems like bogus to me, they might be ripping you off, but then again I'm not in Canada to understand the nuances there. I would have thought the studios paid those licenses and that was the sum total of it.
The alternative was that they would sue me and attempt to seize my property for non-payment. Since the cost of a lawyer (and the risk of losing) exceeds what I have to pay them, I just pay up.
But I also play music in the theatre before and after the shows. Hey, I've paid for that!
Yes.Do movie theatres have to pay ASCAP or BMI to play popular copyright CD music in their theatres like many restaurants have to?Comment
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