Ok, so one of my band’s Mystik Luminate have just been asked to register for either ASCAP or BMI in order for our label manager to register us for our latest release’s performance royalties. This is leading me & my brother to start discussing & investigating which performing rights organization (or PRO) to use… BMI is free, where as ASCAP has a $50 fee for songwriting & also for publishing… Or so it seems according to this video I just found which discusses a bit more about them, including how they differentiate for publishing:
COUNTER ARGUMENT
Aaaand for a counter argument we have these articles also pointing out that these types of organizations keep about 12% which is a total scam (in a nutshell):
Part I – http://www.mosesavalon.com/why-you-should-wait-to-join-ascap-bmi-sesac/
And lastly, these are VERY different from “distributors” like Distrokid (or other)….. PROs collect money for your songs’ songwriting and publishing royalties and then pay you back. Distributors just get your music out there.