29 Worship Tools for Under $29, Part 8
By Jon Nicol
#16: CCLI's Rehearsal License
I can still remember where I was the day I heard the news. Someone at a very large worship conference said, “CCLI is developing this new license to cover the recordings you use to prepare your team.”
Finally.
I had created my own HTML-challenged version of Planning Center* on a hidden part of my WorshipTeamCoach.com site (back on the really ugly one). I had uploaded all of these mp3s for my team to rehearse with. But over and over I kept telling them, “DO NOT SHARE THIS!” I was literally waiting to get served papers by the RIAA.
I think it was a solid year or more before the CCLI launched their Rehearsal License. As soon as it released I jumped on that like a rat on a Cheeto.
Unless you send your team links to legal versions of songs (Spotify, iTunes, etc.) and they listen online or buy their own copy, you need this.
If you upload to something like Planning Center, you need this.
If you burn CDs for your team, you need this.
If dub songs onto a cassette for your 80s rocker guitarist that refuses to even move into 90s, you still need this.
The costs range from $75 a year to 2,350, depending on how many copies you use. The average small to medium size church will probably come at, or well under, level 5. Unfortunately, you need an advanced calculus degree from MIT to actually discern their copy estimation formula.
OK, it’s not that bad. But for those of us who went into ministry to avoid anything but simple addition or subtraction (let’s see, I have 3 drummers, and there are 4 weeks in June…how many more drummers do I need?), it can be a little befuddling.
The bottom line is, you need this (did I mention that?). It’s another way that we can keep ourselves above reproach and help support the artists and businesses that provide us with worship music. And broken down monthly, for many churches, it will be $29 (or less) tool for worship ministry.
And if you're a small or medium-sized church that's exceeding $29 a month with this, you'll probably want to check out this resource.
Love to hear your comments - do you use the Rehearsal License? If so, do you think it's priced fairly?
*By the way, the time and frustration it took to maintain this thing was far greater than the monetary cost of Planning Center Online...another good tool.
March 13, 2012
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