My fiance and I had asked a friend of ours who has a great voice (and a very outgoing personality) to sing at our wedding, but last time I talked to her, she said she would think about it so we started looking into second choice options. We already picked out our definite play lists; including the special songs (we did that before looking for the entertainment). After doing research on all possible forms of entertainment (bands, deejays, various media players), we decided that if our friend decideds not to perform, we will go the route of some form of media player (ipod, mp3 player, etc.) and have a friend or family member announce the special events (most likely somebody in the wedding party). However, one thing I have been wondering is how to go about playing the music at the wedding. What I mean by that is do you need to find out who owns the copyright to the songs you want to play and get the permission to play it at your wedding? If so, how would I go about finding getting the permission to play the song?
Re: Question about wedding music songs for media player weddings
The copyright issues vary by where you live. In Canada we pay a SOCAN fee, which is usually $50 - $100 per event depending on the size of the party and if there is dancing or not. As long as you have paid that fee and have purchased the music legally (own the CDs, paid for on iTunes etc.) then it is legal and no copyright issues. I'm not sure if there is a similar fee in the US though - sorry!
Realistically you will probably have 80-100+ songs at your reception, and it would be unrealistic/impossible for you to have to contact each record label or artist to get permission.
I expect that as long as you obtained the music legally and pay any fee issued by the venue to play music you'll be fine.
Sorry I can't be of more help!
ETA: Just did a quick google search... the US equivalent is ASCAP: http://www.ascap.com/