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Joined: May 2008
Posts: 313
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OP
Serious Contributor
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 313 |
Hi all as ya know I am pretty new here and I am trying to decide between joining BMI or ASCAP and to be honest I just don't know a whole lot about this stuff other than it is necessary. I would appreciate any info ya'll have about one over the other. Thanks April
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Joined: May 2001
Posts: 7,412
Top 30 Poster
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Joined: May 2001
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Hi April, It really doesn't matter which one you join as they pretty much do the same thing and one doesn't pay more than the other. When you join pick the one that you like best.
Ray E. Strode
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 4,697
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April,
I am BMI. It is very easy to join on line...takes a few minutes only. They made it very easy. BMI is affiliated with CLEARCHANNEL radio that owns many of the country stations across the country.
Jan
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Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 382
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Posts: 382 |
Hi April, It really doesn't matter which one you join as they pretty much do the same thing and one doesn't pay more than the other. When you join pick the one that you like best. That's not entirely accurate. Sometimes they do pay different. They use different systems to calculate revenue. I have also heard that with Sesac's new digital calculating, they sometimes even pay more than the larger PRO's. It's helps to have a co-writer with another PRO, that way when the checks start coming, and you find out you aren't getting paid as much as them for a specific song, you can take it to them and they will make up the difference.
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 7,831
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Hi April: Glad to have you among us. BMI, ASCAP or SESAC are all pretty much the same with a slight twist here or there. It's not important at all until you begin to have material somebody is really wanting to publish or record. I chose ASCAP because it has good on-line interfacing for me... and it does not cost to register as either, a songwriter or a publisher. At one time, SESAC was by invitation only but that may have changed. JPF has recently made some kind of affiliation with BMI and Brian (our leader and founder) can probably give you his reasons for making that connection. I'm with Ray... you pay's your nickel and you take's your chances... LOL! Dave http://www.airplaydirect.com/DaveRice
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 1,550
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Joined: Oct 2001
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I am with BMI and they offer lots of free workshops and its' very easy to add your songs to your catalog online at their website.
If you're going to co-write with a regular partner, the advice is, that you both join different groups so you can compare royalties. (smile)
Kay-lynn
"It Mattered to THAT One"
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Joined: May 2008
Posts: 313
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OP
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Joined: May 2008
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Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 382
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Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 382 |
Here's a link for those of you who already have PRO's. This is an intriguing, very skewed, somewhat angry, and terribly entertaining article about Ascap and BMI. Unfortunately this is actually the first thing that comes up unfortunately when you Google BMI ASCAP. Some of it is cool though, it does explain how the radio plays are calculated from each PRO. It talks alot more about ascap than it does BMI. http://www.woodpecker.com/writing/essays/royalty-politics.htmlHere is the reason I described earlier on why they pay different. REMEMBER - Don't quote this article as exact information. You just don't really hear much about how everything is calculated, and this at least offers some insight into how everybody gets paid. Here's what it says about the calculation of payment. "ASCAP then does what they refer to as "random" sampling of radio airplay, and through a bewildering series of calculations that weight the performances according to the estimated audience size of the station, they distribute money collected from licenses to owners of copyrights of material that has been logged in their surveys. ASCAP secretly tapes 60,000 hours of radio broadcast a year and 30,000 hours of television for their samplings. Based on their estimate of 600 million broadcast performances a year, at an estimate of 12 songs per hour, this divides out to about one tenth of a percent of all airplay gets sampled to determine who gets nearly $300 million!! ASCAP samples in 3 hour television and 6 hour radio segments, called units, and their strategies for taping are not public information. Neither ASCAP or BMI does any survey of performance venues (clubs, concerts, festivals, etc.); therefore all money collected from licenses of performance venues is paid out based on radio airplay. The assumption is that this is fair and reasonable. Unlike ASCAP's taping of broadcasts, BMI does their sampling directly from radio station logbooks." http://www.woodpecker.com/writing/essays/royalty-politics.html
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Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 3,650
Top 100 Poster
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Posts: 3,650 |
hi APRIL
i myself think they are both fine organizations.........i chose BMI over ASCAP cause BMI is in bed with the radio stations and ASCAP isnt......and as a writer i wanted the PRO with the best vertical ladder in the industry.......i think thats the main advantage of BMI........JMO good luck!
TOM
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 7,044 Likes: 16
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Posts: 7,044 Likes: 16 |
I'm from Canada, and I'm with SOCAN, which is affiliated with BMI. We only have one PRO in Canada, which makes the choice easier. None are perfect with their system of spot checking, sometimes it hurts you with missed air plays but it's the only system that is feasible, so they say. But with technology available today, I believe every spin can be counted and paid for.
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Joined: May 2008
Posts: 313
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OP
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Joined: May 2008
Posts: 313 |
Thanks all I now officially joined BMI.
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 6,589 Likes: 1
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Actually BMI is free and ASCAP costs something like $25 to register.
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