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3. Collecting Performance Royalties: Performing Rights Organizations (PROs)

Part 1 • Two Components of the Publishing Royalty: Performance and Mechanical

In the United States, the primary PROs are ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) and BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.). Outside the US, there are equivalent PROs (e.g., SOCAN in Canada, PRS for Music in the UK, GEMA in Germany).

<ul> <li><strong>Registration:</strong> Songwriters must affiliate with a PRO (you typically only affiliate with one). Your publisher (even if it's you acting as your own publisher) also affiliates with a PRO.</li> <li><strong>Collection:</strong> PROs license the right to publicly perform songs to venues, broadcasters, and streaming services. They then collect the royalties and distribute them to their affiliated songwriters and publishers.</li> </ul> It is crucial to register all of your original songs with your chosen PRO.

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In this module: Two Components of the Publishing Royalty: Performance and Mechanical10 steps
  1. 1The Publishing Royalty: An Overview
  2. 2Performance Royalties: For Public Performance
  3. 3Collecting Performance Royalties: Performing Rights Organizations (PROs)
  4. 4Mechanical Royalties: For Reproduction and Distribution
  5. 5Collecting Mechanical Royalties: The MLC and Publishing Administrators
  6. 6The "Black Box" Problem: Uncollected Royalties
  7. 7The Publisher Role: Even If It's Just You
  8. 8Strategic Implications: Maximizing Income from Every Stream
  9. 9The Dual Registration Mandate
  10. 10Your Actionable Royalty Collection Checklist