Legislators have voted in favour of amending a law that would allow music to be played in bars on Sundays.
Commerce Minister André Ebanks presented to Parliament on Monday the Music and Dancing (Control) Amendment Bill 2022, which will enable standalone bars, that are not part of a hotel or restaurant, to play music from 11am to 11:59pm on Sundays.
The amendments to the legislation also apply to licensed sea-going vessels.
Ebanks said the changes to the law would level the playing field and allow bars to compete with those based in restaurants and hotels at a time when local businesses are recovering after the COVID-19 pandemic and dealing with ongoing economic challenges.
He said the prohibition against music on Sundays had placed the owners of these bars and boats “at a disadvantage and affects their bottom line”, adding that there were approximately “40 or more bars in this category”.
A ban on music on Christmas Day and Good Friday continues, he clarified.
When the initial legislation was drawn up, it applied across the board to all licensed premises, but over the years, exemptions were granted to a variety of businesses, usually ones that cater to tourists, such as at airports, ports and hotels.
“Over the years, there has been a gradual increase in the categories exempted from this prohibition,” Ebanks said. “The 2019 revisions significantly broadened these categories, but this never extended to standalone bars and sea-going vessels.”
Background music
The music played must be of a “low background nature” which is not capable of being heard outside the boundaries of the premises in which it is being played.
Ebanks acknowledged that noise limits had not been prescribed, but added, “discerning if you can hear the soft background music outside the premises should be sufficient.”
Pre-recorded music can be played at relevantly licensed bars between 11am and 11:59pm on Sunday, with the same hours applied to boats if they are half a mile or more out to sea.
The bill passed a second reading in Parliament on Monday.
The next steps will see the bill head to committee stage, to go through each provision of the bill, followed by a third reading, when it will be fully signed off by legislators. It would then need to be gazetted and put into action.
Red Bay MP Alden McLaughlin in June this year brought a private members’ motion calling for an amendment to the law, pointing out while bars in hotels and restaurants are allowed to play music, exclusively Caymanian-owned standalone bars are not.
Ebanks said on Monday that the government had “no fundamental difficulty with that motion and accepted it as the ministry team was working on the matter in any event”.
McLaughlin, the only MP other than Ebanks to speak on the bill on Monday, thanked the minister for bringing the legislation before the House so swiftly after his June motion.
“The owners of these 40-plus local bars, I am sure, will be most thankful, particularly in this festive season, that their patrons will have the benefit of listening to music on a Sunday afternoon and evening while they are sipping a few.”
He added that several of these owners had told him that the enforcement of the music ban by police over the years has had “a serious and negative impact” on their Sunday business.
“Thanks again to the ministry and the government, on behalf of the owners and patrons of locally owned liquor-licensed premises which have music and dancing licences. Happy Christmas.”
- Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story referred to ‘pre-recorded’ music. The amended legislation does not require music in bars on Sundays to be pre-recorded.
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