About 15 years ago, my Uncle fostered an inner city kid for awhile.  I've never met him, but through Facebook, we've connected, and Lo and behold, we both make music.  Turns out, he has an indie beatz company, and he has been making a living selling beatz on Soundclick. A month or so ago, I did a goofy thing with him, and a few days ago, he contacted me with some news.

He apparently has a contact at MTV who is Supposedly talking with Warner Bros.

So, he dropping an album soon, and asked me to join him for a few songs.  I've sent him a vox track for one song and he's digging it.

Here's the question.... He asked if I'm affiliated with BMI or ASCAP or SESAC.  I'm not. Yet.  So, I start looking into it, and very quickly run into conflicting bits of advice.  I don't pretend that this will actually lead to anything, but it MIGHT and so.... 

Would you join any of these if you were small time indie, doing dubstep/triphop??? They seem to cater to different genres, and there are lots of opinions online stating that one co. Is better than another for a different genre, that unless it's picked up by a major artist, it's worthless to be a member, etc... But I'm coming at this as both the writer AND performer, and I haven't seen anything yet that addresses my situation.

To complicate matters, I'm also involved with a band in Sweden which hopefully will be releasing soon as well, and I understand that there are different publishing companies in different countries.  Can I belong to both BMI/ASCAP/SESAC and also a foreign entity? What's the best way to go about this?

Head explodes.

What say you Pros?

While waiting for the "Pros" to answer, I'll chime in with a "Wow, sounds like this has some great potential for you - good luck!"

According to their FAQ page, BMI only tracks performances inside the US.  http://www.bmi.com/faq/entry/does_bmi_live_track_performances_outside_of_the_us

ASCAP does track performances outside the US as well as inside.  (This article is a couple of years old.)  http://www.ascap.com/playback/2010/04/features/ascap_answers.aspx

You can share songwriting credit with other artists who are members of other Performing Rights Organizations (PRO).  http://www.newindustrytips.com/tag/songwriter/

I'm not saying any of this is advice or a thought.  It might qualify as Something, though.  If so, I hope that helps.

Thanks, Bubba... That looks like actual information there.  Don't worry, though... I won't tell anyone you helped me.  ;)

Yeah, Craig... We'll see.  I'm not going to get too excited about it.  It's fun though, and that's the main thing. Taj (my "cousin") is making some really out-there stuff.  He has an interesting sense of beat.  I can't quite describe it... You'll see what I mean when it's out there.  I'll link it.

I hope it works out.  Good luck, Jules.

I won't do you the dis service of helping you in even the slightest way (since I can't anyway), so I'll spare you having to remember that you won't tell anyone. You can carry on as usual.


OK seriously, that is great news Jules. You deserve it, whatever it is.

Julibee...

NO... you can not join more than one. Pick one and it's your PRO for life. You can actually change if you want to, but it's not very often that anyone does. You can co-write with anyone from any other PRO without any problem..... but only ONE of the writers should register the song with their PRO..... it should not be double registered, as that simply causes problems that have to be sorted out. 

There is no need to join a foreign PRO. Actually, I am not 100% sure, but I think you can only join a PRO in your country of residence. If you hook up with lets say BMI, and your buds are in some Swedish PRO, the proceeds will be split according to the laws in the country on performance and they will send the bux back to BMI who will make sure you are paid.

NOW.... the real question is if you even need to join a PRO.... PRO's are for composers and writers of songs. They are the people who collect the PERFORMANCE royalties from concerts, clubs, internet,  TV and radio play of the music in their home country. They pay the writers and the publishers who are the owners and writers of the music. Generally a 50/50 split of the net. 

An Artist, who is simply an artist does not really need to join the PRO since an artist would be paid for their performance in generally one of two other ways. Mechanical royalties would be paid to the artist from sales, which are paid by the record company, not the publisher or PRO. An artist might also be paid on a session basis. One set fee, signed off with a waiver of rights and done. 

So unless you are a writer of the music, or the existing writer is giving you a cut of the ownership.... I don't believe a PRO membership would be useful to you. 


Oh yeah: some other advice. no matter what.... do not pay anything out of your pocket..... it should not cost you a dime. If the request comes in for money to "help with this or that" run. 

and..... for a songwriter....joining BMI, ASCAP, or SESAC is FREE. 

I have been with BMI for many years.  They all handle all genre's these days. Back in the day BMI used to be more country orientated..... but times have changed. 

See?  Just like that, someone shows up who knows stuff. 

That freaks me out.

Herb, I am writing it.  The lyrics, anyway (and singing). And I'm glad you said what you did about BMI and overseas... Because the info I found said that only ASCAP collaborated like that.  Of course, I think that was at the ASCAP site.

So... the mechanic royalties will be partly mine as the artist/singer (beats y Taj and his crew) but I think I'll also need to do the songwriter half with a PRO as well as copyright some stuff.... 

Make sense?  

Good luck 


Don't mess it up ...it took the Beatles until the 1980s to fix stuff they signed in the 1960s 

Doesn't sound fun

But the music making your doing sounds awesome