I agree, I'm surprised more artists don't just "embrace" their blinky-flashy following. If I were an artist, I'd release a Christmas album of just up-beat, lighting-friendly cuts with the mandate that I'm tagged appropriately on YouTube. I mean if George Lucas allows any parody of Star Wars so long as you don't make money on it... just sayin.
It'd be tough to argue that a wedding is a public performance, but I know exactly what you're saying. I took a Music Business class in college and there was a case study that a mom and pop pharmacy with a radio on the counter had to be licensed, even though customers went there weren't going for the "performances" on the radio and even though the radio station had proper licensing. Same goes for sports bars showing games. Some of them can show the picture, but not turn the sound up. Really bizarre rules.
Heck, our radio station cluster had to settle a copyright complaint (for a lot of money, I might add) because an intern posted a protected photo on Facebook for one of the morning shows. It's now corporate policy for any air staff to "share" things now. The suits figured that it's harder to define where the copyright infringement started if you share vs. add.
Some folks getaway with breaking the FCC mandates on FM transmitters too, but that's another thread!
