ASCAP and BMI Essay Example

Introduction

Music just like any other profession demands, the most important aspects of the job is getting paid for work done. Professional musicians work hard just to enjoy the fruits of their labor in as much as they are out there to express and show case their talent. There are various ways in which musicians get paid for work done, and these include sales on albums made, money collected from concerts and royalties. Royalties are generally payments for the right to use intellectual property such as copyrights, patents, and trademarks, in music they are generally referred to as performance royalties (May, 2013).

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For professional musicians, royalties are payments based on publicity through radio (terrestrial or satellite), television and films (including commercials), performed or streamed live in places such as bars and restaurants or any other performance venues or any content streamed over the digital services (May, 2013). In the United States, Performance Rights Organization (PRO) is responsible for collecting and distributing royalties to copyright holders. PRO is also responsible for representing any copyright holders in case of any legal cases. PRO IS also responsible for fighting music piracy which seems to be a major problem in the music industry and dealing with the constant advancement of technology through digital music (Brabec, 2016). PRO also advocates for local talent through the promotion of local music. Professional musicians use licenses from the Performance Rights Organization (PRO) as a repertoire for publicity. The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) and Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) are some of the major PROs responsible for collecting royalties (May, 2013). These organizations, ASCAP and BMI, are unique in their formation, benefits, membership, and funding but they all perform the same task of collecting royalties and distributing them to the copyright holders. As professional musicians and songwriters, one can only be a member of one organization at a time, and thus it is important to understand the differences and advantages of one organization over the other. It is important to take into consideration what effects and impacts of signing into a Performance Right Organization such as ASCAP and BMI may have on your royalties' payments, sync deals and your career as an artist.

The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP)

ASCAP was founded in 1914 by a group of composers, lyricists and publishers to protect their copyrighted musical compositions and their rights (Pallante, 2013). It is the oldest of the major big Performance Rights Organization. Its first president was George Maxwell, one of the piblishers and it was founded by Victor Herbert together with composers such as Louis Hirsch, John Raymond among othersand a copyright attorney, Nathan Burkan. Some of the earliest songwriters who were members of ASCAP included Irvin Berlin, George M. Cohan, Jerome Can, John Phillip Sousa, Alfred Baldwin Sloane among others (Pallante, 2013). The modern day ASCAP members include the writers of Motown hits such as Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Marc Anthony, Bryan Adams, Neil Young, Tom Petty, Smokey Robinson, The Beatles and the Rolling Stones among others.

ASCAP is a non-profit organization controlled entirely by the composers, music publishers and writers and so all the money collected goes to the members. There is a good bond between the members and they share plenty of benefits from the organization. Eligibility for membership requires one to be in the music publishing business, or be a composer or a lyricist of music with at least one work published. You must also provide documents such as legal identification proving you are above 18 years of age, legal name, email address, and Social Security number. An application fee of $50 is required as payment join either as a songwriter, a publisher or both (Whorton, 2017). These benefits include; the affordable music and health insurances through the MusicPro program, access to the travel agencies and hotel and rental cars discount, credit cards on members through membership in the United States Alliance Federal Credit Union, discounts on ASCAP Web Tools that promote marketing and sales and the discount on music related products and services (Pallante, 2013).

Members also greatly benefit from the ASCAP 'I Create Music' Expo which is a music conference for composing and song writing that features music icons such as Ne-Yo, Big Sean, Diplo, and Stargate just to mention a few. ASCAP also honors its members through the annual awards that consist of different genres of music such as pop, soul, country, Christian music, concert music and rhythm (Whorton, 2017). ASCAP distributes their royalties after all expenses are cleared, and the royalties are distributed equally to the music publishers and the music composers and authors. The members are paid in three months periods known as the performance quarters, and the members can choose to either be paid all the royalties for all performances during the performance quarter or be paid only for a specific performance period.

Broadcast Music, Inc (BMI)

Broadcast Music, Inc was founded in the year 1939 as a non-profit organization by the National Association of Broadcasters (Pallante, 2013). BMI was founded to create an alternative source of licensing for all music users, especially the songwriters of newer genres that were not represented by ASCAP. BMI offers blanket music licenses that make it possible for businesses and organizations to play millions of musical works. BMI gave rise to new music genres and accepted genres such as rock and roll, jazz, blues, and Latin Music, and hence the name an 'open door' to popular music. To establish itself against ASCAP, BMI did a number of things to attract newer writers by taking in artists that ASCAP ignored to compensating songwriters on the basis of a fixed fee per performance, unlike ASCAP's method of payments which included quarterly payments (May, 2013). It also represented the black genres, performers and writers that ASCAP was reluctant to represent.

Membership for songwriters is free, which attracts many songwriters to choose BMI over ASCAP. However, the publishers are required to pay a small fee for membership. Sing BMI is an 'open door' to music writers, many genres ranging from mainstream pop, country music, classical music, death metal, and hip hop are acceptable (May, 2013). Some of the famous and successful artists of BMI include Eminem, Lil Wayne, Taylor Swift, Birdman, Rihanna, Shakira, ED Sheeran, Patti LaBelle, Selena, Nickelback, Linkin Park, Dolly Parton, Maroon 5, Evanescence among others.

BMI issues licenses to music users that include television, radio stations, podcasts, ringtones and ringbacks, nightclubs, discos, bars and restaurants, concert bands, live concerts, and digital jukeboxes among others (May, 2013). Some of the benefits enjoyed a large number of BMI members are; ArtistShare for songwriters, FanBridge, Musician's Atlas, Muzlink, Songwriters Hall of Fame and the production marketplace just to mention a few. Some major companies also provide some of the great benefits to BMI members, and these include Billboard Touring Conference and Awards that offers discounted registration, Video game live offers among others. BMI also awards songwriter, composers, and music publishers through awards such as BMI Latin Awards, BMI Pop Awards, BMI Film/TV Awards, BMI Country Awards, BMI Christian Awards just to mention a few.

Differences between ASCAP and BMI

Both ASCAP and BMI are non-profit Performance Rights Organizations that give performance licenses to song writers and music publishers, pay them through royalties and defend their rights in legal cases (Sisario, 2014). The sign-up process for these organizations only take a matter of minutes on their websites, after registration and payment of the required membership fees; it will take only a few weeks to be a member. The royalties payments though paid using two different payment plans, BMI uses fixed fee per performance, while ASCAP's method is that of quarterly payments there is no much difference between the two, and it is hard to pin point which of the two pays higher. Their main goal is to ensure that each member is compensated for the creation of any works (Sisario, 2014). It is also worth noting that these two organizations are facing competition from the digital music industry and the emergence of new PRO organizations such as SECAC (Whorton, 2017).

Writers and publishers have to join one of the Performance Rights Organization for protection of their rights and realization of royalties; they are however free to switch to the other organization that favors them. These two organizations perform the same tasks and when it comes to choosing between the two, it actually a matter of personal preferences, side benefits, and customer service. It is advisable for the song writers to be conversant with the PRO's policies and philosophy before settling on either of them. These two organizations, however, do have major differences in how they run their businesses. For instance, the membership of ASCAP comprises songwriters, lyricists, composers and music publishers, and it si the only PRO in the United States that created and controlled by lyricists, composers, and music publishers, while BMI is an association of broadcasters.

While ASCAP is owned by the members who include song writers and publishers, BMI is owned by radio and television broadcasters. The board of directors in ASCAP consists of 12 publishers and writers elected every two years while for BMI, the broadcast stockholders and one BMI employee are mandated to choose its board of directors (Pallante, 2013). Since the writers and the publishers constitute the ASCAP organization, they have a say in the everyday business of the organization and in fact hold general meetings periodically. On the other hand, BMI song writers and publishers have no say in the organization's business, and they do not hold any general meetings (Pallante, 2013). The agreement between ASCAP and its members involves a contractual obligation; the BMI does not have any binding contractual obligation towards its members. To join ASCAP, you must be above 18 years of age and produce documents of legal name, email address and Social Security number (Whorton, 2017). An application fee of $50 is required as payment join either as a songwriter, a publisher or both. On the other hand, to be a member of BMI, you only need an email address to join. Songwriters younger than 18 years can also join as long as they a custodial trust bank account.

Conclusion

In conclusion, both ASCAP and BMI help the music writers and publishers by compensating for the works of their creation, defending their rights and fighting vices such as piracy in the music industry. Their roles as stated above is to pay and distribute royalties among the stakeholders and members, and to that extent, they play a major role in the careers of artists and publishers. However, it is upon the songwriters, lyricists, composers, and publishers to choose what kind of PRO favors them in accordance to the type of genres and the benefits they expect to get from the Performance Rights Organization.

References

Brabec, T. (2016). The Performance Right-A World in Transition. Mitchell Hamline L. Rev., 42, 16.

May, T., & Weissman, D. (2013). Promoting Your Music: The Lovin'of the Game. Routledge.

Pallante, M. A. (2013). ASCAP at 100. J. Copyright Soc'y USA, 61, 545.

Sisario, B. (2014). Pandora suit may upend century-old royalty plan. The New York Times.

Whorton, A. M. (2017). The Complexities of Music Licensing and the Need for a Revised Legal Regime. Wake Forest L. Rev., 52, 267.