All of that is incorrect.
You can check the GEMA fees here: www.gema.de/portal/app/tarifrechner/preisrechner - I had it calculate the fees for a 4-hour concert with 100 seats and an entrance fee of 5 Euros, and the total GEMA fee is 31,35 €. If all seats are filled, that is less than 10% of your income. Certainly a lot of money, but a far cry from “all of said fee or even more”.
Secondly, if you are not a GEMA member and all the music you play is non-GEMA (and written by yourself), you don’t have to pay anything, see here for example: www.anwalt.de/rechtstipps/gema (central quote: “Der GEMA-Pflicht unterliegen dabei alle Musikwerke, für die sie die Verwertungsrechte erhalten hat”, translation: “GEMA liability applies to all musical works for which it has received exploitation rights.”)
I don’t like the GEMA either, but let’s stay with the verifiable facts, please.
General_Effort@lemmy.world 4 months ago
GEMA was created by the Nazis to take over pop culture. There’s a certain logic there.
Of course, under the Nazis you could be sent to camp if you belonged to the wrong subculture. So there is a difference. The rebels of the time listened to jazz, to swing. “Negro music” was the social media of that age, corrupting the youth.