Thought I'd add a few points to this discussion. I'd agree that there
isn't much difference between the two societies, as far as I can tell.
They do use different sampling methods to determine who gets paid what.
And this can make a difference in some cases. At one time, I think BMI did
a better job surveying smaller radio stations and college stations. As
such, if you were in a band that got a lot of college radio play, but not
much play on big stations, you might have been better served joining BMI.
Subesquently, as someone else mentioned, ASCAP has responded to criticisms
that it was weak in this area and has moved to do a better job, so at
this point I'm not sure how much of a difference there is.
Beyond this, I find BMI's web site and online data base to better than
ASCAP's. BMI lists every composition registered by a member. ASCAP only
lists those compositions that have come up in a survey or census. On the
other hand, ASCAP has some title registration software, which simplifies
and speeds the process of clearing titles (you can send the info in on a
disk). BMI makes you fill out a hard copy form for each song (although I
seem to remember that they may add a web based option somewhere in the
future). This can be a drag, especially if you end up joining late in the
curve and have to register a 40-50 song back catologue (trust me I had to
do this for a band once). The hard copy forms at BMI also mean that all
the info has to be rekeyed into the computer system at BMI. You know what
that means? Plenty of mistakes and misattributions. Not that ASCAP is
perfect in this regard either.
So whichever society you join, stay on top of them. Make sure that your
titles have been correctly registered and make sure to register new titles
in a timely fashion. If the titles haven't been registered and you
get radio plays or whatever, you may be missing out on getting paid.
If you are a singer/songwriter type or the only writer in your band, there
is one other tangible difference between the societies that is worth
considering: BMI allows you to join as a writer and then have the
publisher's share of performance monies sent directly to you, if you have
no outside publisher or administrator. This is cool, especially if your
thing is fairly small, because it means that you don't have to go to the
trouble of setting up a separate publishing company (at least initially).
This can save you some scratch.
Let me explain this a bit further. Generally, the societies split every
dollar they collect in half. They then send .50 directly to the writer.
This is sort of built in protection for the writer. No outside publisher
gets to touch this cash. Where the other .50 goes depends on whether the
writer has an outside publishing or administration deal. If you are a
small DIY kind of person, the odds are that you don't have one of these
outside deals, so that .50 should go to you to, because you haven't
assigned it away to anyone else. With ASCAP, to get that .50 you have to
set up a separate publisher affiliate, even if you basically are the
publisher. This can cost you money,time, and hassles. But if you don't do
it, you don't get the money. With BMI there are instances where you
don't have to do this and can elect to have the publisher's share sent
directly to the writer, which can be nice for smalltime operators.
A couple of other points: I heard from a BMI rep a couple of months
ago, that BMI is hoping to move towards a computerized census system
for radion play, if it can get the industry on board. This would lead
to far more accurate tracking of radio plays and might mean more money
for niche artists. We'll have to see how that shapes up. And one final
thing, like everything else in life, don't forget about the people
involved. If you build a relationship with an ASCAP or BMI rep, this may
be worth more by itself than all the other stuff I mentioned above. Not
everyone gets this opportunity, but if it presents itself, seek it out.
The societies generally have local reps in larger markets. They can and do
help people's careers.
Anyway, that's about all for now. Below is a little piece I wrote a while
back to put on a web site I'm still trying to get together. It's a little
overview of what ASCAP and BMI do. I thought some folks might find it
useful, as there seemed to be at least a little confusion about the
subject of performance rights (it's definitely an easy one to be confused
about). One other note, this guy is a little old now. It doesn't really
address the changes to the copyright act (digital millenium and the
exemption of some smaller businesses from performance license
requirements)
Take it easy,
Jake
> ASCAP and BMI: What Are They? What Do They Do?
>
> By Jacob A. London, Esq., © 1996 All Rights Reserved
>
> Have you ever read the songwriting credits on a CD? Ever wondered why
> the acronym ASCAP or BMI follows almost every credit? Are they seals
> of quality? Satanic code words? Fraternal orders like the Odd Fellows
> and Elks?
>
> Actually, ASCAP and BMI refer to the two major U.S. performing rights
> societies (there's also a smaller one called SEASAC). ASCAP stands for
> the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers. BMI stands
> for Broadcast Music Incorporated. These groups help songwriters and
> music publishers maximize the value of their songs.
>
> To understand what ASCAP and BMI do, you need a bit of legal
> background. Under the U.S. copyright law, songwriters are granted a
> bundle of rights to their compositions. One of these rights is the
> exclusive right to publicly perform the composition (the "performance
> right")."Performance" is a term of art under U.S. copyright law. It
> includes both live performances of a song and public performances of
> any previous performance of a song that has been recorded on a record,
> compact disc, audio tape, video tape, film, or other such reproduction
> medium.
>
> When a radio station broadcasts "Pepper" by the Butthole Surfers, it
> is a public performance under U.S. copyright law. The same is true of
> a D.J. spinning George Clinton's "Atomic Dog" in a dance club or a
> television producer using the Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun" as
> background music in a sit-com. In each instance, the user is legally
> required to get a license (permission) from the copyright owner before
> performing the song publicly.
>
> In a market economy, if you have the exclusive right to something and
> other people want to use it, it's pretty standard practice to make
> them pay for that privilege. That's how pieces of intellectual
> property like songs and software make money for their owners. But to
> make people pay, you have to able to enforce your exclusive right. In
> the case of the performance right, the most obvious means of
> enforcement is a lawsuit for copyright infringement. But this doesn't
> turn out to be a very practical strategy in the real world. There are
> too many potential infringers, and historically, most individual
> songwriters and publishers have not had the time and money to track
> down each one and sue them.
>
> This is where ASCAP and BMI come in. They do the enforcement and
> collection work for songwriters and publishers. When a songwriter or
> publisher joins ASCAP or BMI, she grants her chosen society the right
> to issue licenses for non-dramatic performing rights on her behalf
> (performing rights for stage plays and musicals are handled
> separately). After that, anyone who wants to license the non-dramatic
> performing rights to her songs goes through her performing rights
> society (with a few exceptions, including domestic movie exhibitors
> who are exempt for anti-trust reasons).
>
> This centralization benefits songwriters and publishers in two
> important ways: First, the societies have more leverage than an
> individual songwriter or publisher. They have thousands and thousands
> of songs in their respective catalogues. They generally require anyone
> who wants to use one of their songs to execute a "blanket license" for
> all of the songs in the society's catalogue. Potential licensees must
> either buy the right to use all of the songs in the society's
> catalogue or they can't use any of them. In this way, songwriters and
> publishers avoid divide and conquer strategies where a potential
> licensee plays one licensor against another, driving the price of the
> license down.
>
> Second, ASCAP and BMI have much greater enforcement and collection
> resources than do songwriters and publishers. Because ASCAP and BMI
> bring in a lot of income each year, they can afford to bring suit
> against infringers on behalf of all their members. Moreover, they each
> have a well developed and efficient nationwide enforcement and
> collection apparatus. Ask any club owner about their ASCAP and BMI
> license payments. They pay up, because they don't want ASCAP and BMI
> suing them. The same is true of radio and television stations. It's
> unlikely they'd be quite as respectful if Joe Songwriter came along
> all by his lonesome demanding that they pay him his performance
> license fees.
>
> Once the performing rights societies have collected licensing fees for
> a particular accounting period, they distribute them to their members.
> Both ASCAP and BMI are non-profit organizations. After they deduct
> administration and enforcement costs, they redistribute whatever is
> left (usually around 80% of total receipts).
>
> Of course not all members are created equal. The songs of Elton John
> are publicly performed a lot more than those of Blammo the Clown or
> the Smitty Brothers. The societies take this into account when they
> distribute royalties. Consequently, Elton receives a relatively larger
> share of the total royalty pot than Blammo, because demand for Elton's
> songs generated more of the money his society collected.
>
> It isn't economically feasible to monitor every single performance of
> every song in the ASCAP and BMI catalogues, so the societies use
> statistical models to insure that licensing revenue is apportioned
> fairly among their members. Each society's model differs somewhat in
> its specifics, but both models are based on surveys of television and
> radio performances. These users are the easiest to monitor and they
> also generally pay the highest license fees. Thus even though the
> societies collect license fees from nightclubs, bars, discos,
> restaurants and other venues, they do not survey these users. Instead,
> revenue from these sources is apportioned among members using the
> radio and television surveys, because the societies assume that
> performances by non-broadcast users mirror those of radio and
> television users. It is also much cheaper to do it this way.
>
> When a song appears in ASCAP or BMI's statistical sample it is called
> a "surveyed performance." The more surveyed performances a song gets,
> the greater the relative share of the total royalty pot its owner
> receives. In addition, different types of performances are assigned
> different weights in the survey, because different types of users pay
> different licensing fees to ASCAP and BMI. For example, television
> users generally pay higher license fees than do small market radio
> station users. ASCAP and BMI justify these higher fees on the ground
> that television stations usually serve bigger markets and generate far
> more income than do small market radio stations. Thus a song used on
> television receives a greater relative share of royalties, because its
> user paid a higher fee to acquire the right in the first place.
>
> The subject of performing rights is a fairly involved one. If you are
> a songwriter or a perspective music publisher, this general overview
> is just the beginning of your education. There's much more you should
> know. Music business professionals, such as personal managers and
> entertainment lawyers, can provide you with a wealth of good
> information and advice. There are also a number of helpful reference
> books on the subject. In addition, you can contact ASCAP and BMI
> directly by conventional means or surf the [1]ASCAP and [2]BMI web
> pages on the internet.
>
> Jake London is a business and entertainment attorney in Seattle. He
> can be reached at (206) 329-8901 or by e-mail at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> The foregoing discussion is NOT intended to be relied upon as legal
> advice and should not be relied upon. Any comments made regarding
> legal issues are made strictly for the purposes of education and
> illustration. Every situation is different. Therefore, the best
> approach is always to consult with an attorney directly about your
> legal questions and situation.
>
>
> Send e-mail to: [4]Jacob A. London
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> _________________________________________________________________
> Visible links:
> 1. http://www.ascap.com/
> 2. http://bmi.com/
_______________________________________________________
Jacob A. London
Attorney at Law
1602 E. Garfield, #A
Seattle, Washington 98112
206-329-8901 (vox)
206-329-3957 (fax)
[EMAIL PROTECTED] (e-mail)
_______________________________________________________
