What Performance Rights Society do you think is better? ASCAP or BMI?

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Comment by Woody Black on December 19, 2008 at 12:45am

Thank you Billy for sharing that info with us! We are already blessed with experienced people that are knowledgable on this subject. I have hung out with many musicians who refer to these companies as publishers,and used that misnomer myself! I feel like a dummy,but at least an enlightened one.

Comment by Billy Arr on December 19, 2008 at 12:25am

I just wanted to add that the performance rights companies will NOT publish your song. They are NOT PUBLISHERS! Pull up the Nashville, Los Angeles or New York City yellow pages on your computers and look under music publishing companies. You really won't learn much about them until you walk the streets and experience rejection at most every door. The major publishers, like Sony, Warner Bros, MCA, Capitol, Universal, are all owned by the record labels and it'll be a cold day that you can enter their doors without a personal invite. . They can have 20-50-100 writers on staff, in cubby h*** rooms with a piano and a guitar sometimes provided, all writing from 9 til 5, for a relatively small check each week, and that weekly amount is known as advance pay and comes out any royalties they might receive later. Been there, done that. Do it again? Hell No! Thank ya very much! Billy Arr

Comment by Billy Arr on December 19, 2008 at 12:15am

ASCAP, BMI, & SESAC are NOT publishing companies. They are PERFORMANCE RIGHTS SOCIETIES. Their only function is to collect royalties worldwide for their WRITER & PUBLISHER members. Radio, TV, theaters, bar, lounges, jukebox owners, elevators, you name it, they find them and tell 'em how much they have to pay us to use our songs. I've been a member of both BMI & ASCAP,never SESAC, but don't know why. I switched back and forth simply because they snubbed me when I had nothing on the charts, and treated me like royalty when I did. They were identical in that, so I switched back again.
I've checked with cowriters who were members of ASCAP and their check on our songs were very close to mine, one quarter less than, the
next quarter more than mine etc . . Neither works any harder than the other, nor has better things or prgrams to offer. They are both worldwide organizations. ASCAP charges an annual "administration paperwork fee", even if you have nothing due you in royalties. BMI does not. About the only difference I can see in them is how a particular member gets along with members of the staff of each. They both have some b*******s that love the power seats they occupy, so toss a coin and join, but not immediately. You'll have nine months after a song is recorded and released before you can get paid for it anyway, giving you plenty of time to decide which one you desire to be a member of. In some cases, if the singer is a major artist on a major label, they may even bid for your membership. And that won't hurt your wallet. Hope this helps a bit. Billy Arr

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