Ascap ? Bmi?

mark4man

mark4man

MoonMix Studios
People,

What's the deal with joining ASCAP (or BMI, for that matter)? Are they airplay unions? Should you join one, or both? Which one is better? Is it really necessary?

Reason I ask ???

The CD is almost complete; & I want to make sure the band has all the bases covered.

Also: can a “musical group” join...or do the individual musicians within the group have to join (& do all the group members have to be airplay union members for the group to be viable & have their music played)?

Thanks,

mark4man
 
Performance rights organizations like BMI or ASCAP are for songwriters (and publishers), primarily. If you've written a song that's likely to get air play or live performance by other musicians, you should probably join one (NOT both -- that will just confuse things!). Not that you're likely to see any performance royalties unless it becomes pretty popular.

Anyway, it's free to join BMI (where I am) as a writer (publishers have to pay, I believe) and register your work with them. They do provide other services, networking, advice, and so on to their members.
 
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