Performing Rights Organizations

The Gist

WHERE: ASCAP.com or BMI.com

WHAT DO THEY PAY: Performance Royalties

WHO DO THEY PAY: “Songwriters” and “Publishers”

WHEN DO THEY PAY:
ASCAP pays monthly, but generally for a performance period ~6 prior, soo there will be a bit of a delay at first.
Their full payment schedule is here. 
BMI pays quarterly in February, May, August, and November.
Both providers offer payments via direct deposit or paper checks.  

HOW MUCH?:  
ASCAP is free to join as a Songwriter, $50 to join as a Publisher, or Free to join ad both a joint Songwriter & Publisher 
BMI is free to join as a Songwriter or $175 to join as an individual Publisher with higher fees for Those joining a publishing LLC's, Corporations, or Partnerships.
The fee to sign up as a publisher on both services is only a one-time charge. 

What are PRO's?

PRO’s, or Performing Rights Organizations, pay Performance Royalties to Songwriters & Publishers - both parties receiving half of the royalties owed.
(Yes, “both parties” in this instance can be just you).  

Any time music is played in a public setting like music in a bar or on radio or TV; royalties are owed. 

Companies which legally play live & recorded music in a public setting pay a blanket licensing fee and that money is then distributed to musicians by their PRO quarterly. 

PRO’s will also pay you royalties for your live concert performances.
Yes, that is actually a thing. You are owed royalties for performing your own works in public settings. Learn more about claiming royalties from your live concerts via your PRO here.

How To Join a PRO

You can register with either ASCAP or BMI.
Yes, there are technically others (like SESAC & GMR), but ASCAP and BMI are the two major players in the US that anybody can join. 

You only need to join 1 of the PRO's to collect all songwriter & publisher royalties you're owed. 

Both have various pros and cons, but both companies essentially do the same thing and the differences are mostly negligible.

Both do have small one-time sign-up fees, although as of writing this ASCAP does have an option to register as both a Writer & Publisher for free - which waves their usual $50 sign-up fee for Publishers. 

Both ASCAP and BMI allow you to sign up as a “Songwriter” and/or “Publisher”. DO BOTH.

If you are self-releasing your own music, you are both the Songwriter and Publisher and can claim both shares of these royalties.   

When you register, your Writer & Publisher accounts will be issued IPI or CAE numbers. These are unique numbers for identifying and tracking the writers and publishers which are attached to song recordings.  

What to do in your PRO

Once you’re signed up with a PRO, you can register your songs. 
The process on both ASCAP and BMI varies slightly, but generally just follow the prompts to add all of the information for your tracks and assign whom the Writer and Publisher royalties are owed to. 

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO ENSURE THE IRSC YOU ENTER FOR EACH SONG IS CORRECT.
This is the song identification number you already received from your distributor. This number is vital for tracking when your song is played and owed royalties. 

Your songs should appear in your account fairly quickly after being added, but processing behind the scenes will take some time. 

For instance, registering your song will also spur the generation of an ISWC code which will appear in your account within roughly 14 days. This code is not technically mandatory for the following steps, but it is an additional identifier which can be used to ensure proper tracking.  

What About Songs with Multiple Writers or Publishers?

If your songs have multiple writers or multiple publishers, both ASCAP and BMI allow you to assign various percentages of ownership.

ASCAP displays Writers and Publishers as 50% each of a total 100% whereas BMI shows Writers and Publishers as 100% each of a total 200%. 
These are just 2 annoyingly different ways of demonstrating the same breakdown. 

Example: You and your friend wrote a song together.
So with ASCAP, instead of the full 50% going to one writer, you would assign 25% to both writers. Or with BMI, the 2 writers would be signed 50% each.