In the music industry, performing rights organizations are the ones that work to collect licensing fees for artists all around the world. If you register your song with them, they'll do the work of garnering all types of royalties from it. The top PROs in the market right now are ASCAP, BMI and SESAC.
What is the point of a performing rights organization?
PROs are responsible for collecting income on behalf of songwriters and music publishers when a song is publicly broadcast or performed. Public performances can include play on television or radio, in clubs and restaurants, on websites, or on other broadcasting systems.
Join American Society Composers Authors Publishers as a Writer/Publisher
Joining ASCAP as a writer is a great first step for your music career. Before you finalize that application, make sure you have joined as a music publisher, too
A publisher is a person or entity that controls how a musical composition is used and monetized. Publishers pitch the works that they represent to recording artists and music supervisors and license them for film & TV, as well as other uses. They also collect multiple revenue streams for their writers, including mechanical royalties (e.g., from the sale or download of recordings), sheet music sales and more.
If you write music, US Copyright law gives you certain rights, including the rights of a music publisher.
Join Broadcast Music Inc as a Writer/Publisher
BMI is dedicated to nurturing and maintaining relationships with music creators. We offer workshops and showcases for emerging talent and BMI awards for songwriters and publishers whose public performances are extensive. It's fast, easy and free to join. Songwriters, publishers and composers can simply click the button below, allowing BMI to represent your music. BMI knows that our culture is dependent on the creation of intellectual property, specifically, the creation of music. Without copyright protection, songwriters would lose their exclusive performing right, allowing anyone to use their music freely and without payment. That means that most songwriters would not be able to continue their craft, and we would not have the impressive musical culture we have and continue to build.
BMI’s award-winning repertoire includes over 20.6 million musical works created by more than 1.3 million songwriters, composers and music publishers. As the global leader in music rights management, BMI advocates for your rights and licenses your music to more than 650,000 businesses.
Registering with Society of European Stage Authors and Composers
You must be invited to join SESAC, so to meet with a representative there, you must be referred to their creative staff. You can still visit SESAC's website and call them for more information on how they operate. Again, it's important to research all three and decide which would be a good fit for you.
