Jad El Alam

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE THREE US COLLECTING SOCIETIES ASCAP, BMI AND SESAC

This article has been written by Jad El Alam , a student at Berklee College of Music in Valencia, for the course “Business and Intellectual Property” in the Master in Global Entertainment and Music Business

The aim of this essay is to establish the difference between the different American collecting societies: ASCAP, BMI and SESAC in the way they operate and function. Additionally, this essay will also describe and analyze the bridge between the American collecting societies and a European collecting society like the French SACEM. This should provide a ‘guideline’ that helps artists decide which route they wish to embark on, and highlight the difference in dealing with societies in the two countries.

The layout of this paper will be threefold. First, we will define what the role of a collecting society is. Secondly, we will describe the roles of BMI, ASCAP and SESAC and analyze how they differ from one another. Third and finally, we will describe what the role of SACEM (the French collecting society) is, and analyze how it differs from the three American collecting societies.

What is a collecting society?

A collecting society, or Performing Rights Organization (PRO) is an organization responsible for collecting income generated from a public performance of a songwriter or publisher’s copyrighted work, and redistributing it accordingly. In other words, a PRO deals with tracking down an artist or publisher’s money when their material is played on television, at a restaurant, at a concert, at a gym, in a bar, or publicly broadcast in some way. They are a useful way for artists (visual artists, musicians, filmmakers etc.) to grant licenses of their copyright to third parties. They facilitate the licensing of an author’s work for prospective users who would have to go through the lengthy process of identifying, locating, and negotiating with a copyright owner on a case-by-case basis.

For instance, if a bar or pub wishes to make a compilation of recorded music to be played on busy weekend nights, it wouldn’t be necessary for them to contact directly each artist or each artist’s label for permission. Instead, it can contact the particular PRO who will in turn grant a license and charge a royalty. These royalties will then be redistributed appropriately to the artists and/or record labels.

An artist’s performing rights are part of the remuneration rights associated with copyright law. This means that performance royalties are owed to an artist for the duration of the copyright, which implies that they carry on being collected for up to 70 years after the death of said artist. It is therefore essential for any music songwriter or publisher to be informed on this topic.

In the U.S.A, there are three existing collecting societies: ASCAP, BMI and SESAC.

The following section will describe their roles and draw the differences between them.

ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC

Jeffrey and Todd Brabec (Music Money and Success, 2011) argue that the two most important elements to consider when choosing which PRO to affiliate with should be whether this organization will protect your copyrights better than the next, and whether this organization will compensate you better than the other; both in the U.S. and in foreign countries. Other elements to be taken into consideration are the ease of termination of a contract (length and procedure), as well as the fairness and equality in treatment of members.

ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, is a non-profit organization based in several locations like New York and Los Angeles. According to its website, it is the only American PRO created and controlled by composers, writers, and music publishers, with its Board of Directors made of 12 writers and 12 publishers, all of which are elected by the society’s members on a two-year cycle. With 470,000 members in its ranks ( their ethos is to ensure that members should be treated alike according to their situation, it redistributes the money generated from performances according to areas, and tries to do so on as much of an objective basis as possible (Music Money and Success, 2011). The criteria for eligibility to ASCAP are to either have at least one commercial recording written by or published by the prospective applicant, or have a commercial music sheet of the composition, or even proof of a performance of the said composition in a ASCAP-licensed medium or venue (radio or television station, a cue sheet from a TV or film producer) that provides the information on who wrote or published the work. A prospective publisher will have to clear the company name with ASCAP to make sure that it is not currently in use by any other publishing company, American or foreign. Additionally, in order to collect your publisher’s share of royalties, you will need to have an ASCAP publishing company. If these elements are met, the application can be completed online via The sign-up fee is of $50 for writers and publishers alike, although companies like Songtrust offer a free ASCAP membership to writers that sign-up through their platform. ASCAP features celebrities such as Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, Stevie Wonder, Dave Matthews, and many more on its roster.

BMI, the Broadcast Music Inc., is also a non-profit organization based in similar locations as ASCAP. The company was founded by radio executives in 1939, and is run by a board of 13 executives associated with broadcasting companies and one BMI employee who is the president (Music Money and Success, 2011). The eligibility criteria are similar than that of ASCAP. However, the sign-up fees are different: it is free to sign-up as a songwriter, and publishers can sign-up at a cost of $250. BMI does not disclose information about the objectivity of the treatment of its members. Another difference with ASCAP is that you are not required to have a BMI publishing company to collect your publisher’s share of royalties – which can be freeing and more appealing to certain writers or publishers.

Joining either entity requires the signature of a contract that is henceforth legally binding. However, they offer different terms for the duration of the agreements. ASCAP has a year-to-year continuing agreement that lets any writer or publisher cancel their membership and resign from the Society from one year to the next. Termination can be done during any year of the contract on the provision of a written notice given three months in advance. On the other hand, BMI writer agreements are generally different from BMI publisher agreements. Writers will generally sign for a two-year contract that acts as a rolling contract of two-year terms, unless terminated by either party. Most publishers at BMI generally sign five-year contracts. They also rollover by terms of five years unless terminated by either party. Termination notice must be by registered or certified mail within a specific window (for example, no sooner than six months and no later than 60 or 90 days prior to the end of the contract).

As mentioned earlier, ASCAP focuses on redistributing payment of license fees according to areas of performance. This means that ASCAP will make a conscious effort to weigh the payment due to a radio performance with radio licensing fees, and will survey all areas of public performance to ensure accuracy in payment; this philosophy is respected respectively to each area of performance. In contrast, BMI follows this philosophy for the areas of network television, local television and radio performances. BMI does not follow a specific payment formula for the other areas of public performances. The general philosophy is to pay out all of the radio and television rates in full and accurately, and then distribute the remainder ‘in the form of voluntary payments to certain types of performances in certain areas’ that aren’t monitored (Music Money and Success, 2011). Additionally, BMI has a few areas that are currently listed as ‘Non-Payment Sources’ on their website:

-Cue, bridge or background music on radio

-Partial performances of popular songs on radio

-Station IDs or public service announcements in any medium

-Promotional announcements on radio or on local broadcast, cable or satellite TV, except as otherwise indicated

SESAC, also known as the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers, is the third American PRO. It is the only organization that is not open to for application. It is a small organization where writers and composers have to be invited to join. They believe that through this kind of policy they can achieve a higher level of professionalism with the writers (and their career) they choose to affiliate with. This in turn, allows for a greater relational interaction. The SESAC website states that “With an international reach and a vast repertory that spans virtually every genre of music, SESAC is the fastest growing and most technologically adept of the nation’s performing rights companies”. Their roster is composed of artists like Bob Dylan, Rush, MGMT, Neil Diamond, and many more. Since the affiliation only works through invitation, there are no fees involved with joining the organization. One can also assume that this selection process also ensures a high level of attention, fairness, and equality to all members alike.

The payment scheme for SESAC is very similar to that of ASCAP’s. The organization records activity for television stations, radio stations, and venues of all sizes. They determine royalty payments based on factors such as the weight of the performance or venue (the reach of the performance based on the size of the venue/audience), and factor in the license fees associated with the act, as well as the number of performances.

When it comes to contracts, SESAC holds a very open negotiation policy with its prospective members. The contracts will grant SESAC the ‘nonexclusive right to perform publicly and to license to others to perform publicly, the writer’s and publisher’s works throughout the world’ (Music Money and Success, 2011). The general term duration for a writer’s contract is three years, with automatic renewal; and the general term duration for a publisher’s contract is three years, with automatic renewal as well. Contracts can be terminated at least three months in advance, but no more than six months prior to the expiration of the current period of the term.

One element to keep in mind when making a choice with regards to which organization you wish to be affiliated with is that the payment you will receive will depend on variable factors and therefore will vary. Jeffrey and Todd Brabec argue that ‘payments […] can vary significantly by performance quarter, by genre of music, by type of use and by specific writer and publisher, among other factors’ (Music Money and Success, 2011). An additional element to consider is how often these organizations tend to change their payment policies, and it is therefore advisable to regularly check for changes and policy updates on your organization’s websites.

SACEM (Société des Auteurs, Compositeurs, Editeurs de Musique)

The French SACEM is a service, non-profit organization, run by musical creators and publishers.It counts over 145 000 members in France and Internationally, and estimates an extra 4 000 members each year. Its main mission is to collect and redistribute to authors, composers and publishers in France and redistribute the proceeds to French and foreign artists accordingly. It encourages musical creation by protecting, representing and looking out for the best interest of the authors, composers and publishers in the world of music. It has the same essential functions as the American PROs; however, it looks at collecting all the monies associated with music copyrights, as opposed to the American PROs that focus solely on performing rights. It serves as intermediary to authorize public performance of protected works through medium such as television, radio, live performance, clubs, or through the intermediary of the SDRM (society responsible of administrating the rights to mechanically reproduce an author’s, composer’s or publisher’s work), their phonographic and audiovisual reproduction. It would represent an amalgamation of any of the three American collecting societies with the Harry Fox Agency.

SACEM works jointly with national television broadcasting channels in a close way to ensure the most accurate collection and redistribution of proceeds. It collects each channel’s detailed programming on a daily basis. The SACEM website claims to give ‘one of the world’s most accurate redistribution’ ( For collection from of royalties from clubs, they run in a very similar way to American PROs in that they collect information via surveys.The basic conditions for joining the SACEM are to have composed or written at least five songs, and to justify the use of at least one of them through a) at least five instances of public performance, throughout five different sessions, and over a period of time greater than 6 months; or b) the recording of at least one of the works on disc, CD, multimedia support, or video sold in stores. For bands joining the SACEM, each song registered needs to be accompanied of a clear statement showing who has what role in the band. Moreover, if you wish to complete the registration of one of your works with SACEM, you will have to provide a full music sheet that includes both melody and harmonization, along with a sound recording and full lyrics, if they are present on the recording. However, it is important to note that the application process may vary depending on the style of music performed or recorded; the indications provided represent the general procedure for admission. Whatever the case is, registering to the SACEM binds you to submit all of your works to the organization, and all you retain all of your moral rights associated with them.

One can therefore see that in a country such as the United States of America, different collecting societies are best suited to different artists. The main attempt of this paper was to outline the main characteristics and components of each one of them, without representing any bias. It is therefore important to consider the multiple elements that each association has to offer, identify which aligns best with your views and is best suited for your musical endeavors. The main difference an artist will encounter with European collecting societies, is that they are not only Performing Rights Organizations, but they are equally in charge of collecting and redistributing the monies involved with copyrights. One might even find that in European countries, registering works with collecting societies even acts as registering a copyright, while it is listed independently in the United States of America as the U.S. Copyright Office. This is due to the greate emphasis that European copyright law places on moral rights, or droit d’auteur. There is, however, an arguable increase in convergence between the two systems, and a trend of harmonization can be highlighted as moral rights become progressively recognized in the United States.In the U.K. for example, moral rights have been incorporated to copyright as of 1988.

References:

- Jeffrey & Todd Brabec, Music Money and Success, Seventh Edition, Schirmer Trade Books,2011

- SACEM, last accessed 18th of December 2013,

- ASCAP, last accessed 18th of December 2013,

- BMI, last accessed 18th of December 2013,