I am a member of BMI/ASCAP – can I also join up for Master Publishing if I am signed up to them?

If you’re a songwriter in USA, yes, we would definitely recommend for you to be a member of BMI/ASCAP. BMI ASCAP issues you with an IPI number which you’ll need to sign up to our service. We don’t replace everything your performing rights society collects for you as a songwriter. As your Publishing Administrator, we work together with them (and digital sources) to make sure your compositions are registered correctly. The difference is that you won’t need to register individual tracks with BMI/ASCAP – Master Publishing will be able to register your songs with collection societies all around the world, including BMI/ASCAP on your behalf.

Being a member of BMI/ASCAP has huge member benefits including special access to awards, grants, resource, assistance and writing camps. It is also often the case that when someone is looking to license music (TV, Digital, Radio) they will only do so once they can see that all shares are represented by a society and publisher as it will mean there are already blanket licenses in place to cover the usage or there is a licensing party that can be dealt with for clearance etc. Often music won’t be used on TV if anyone who’s written the song is not a society member. Master Publishing also doesn’t collect the writer’s portion of live performance royalties e.g. the royalty that is paid to writers when your song is performed in public. It’s important you keep your BMI/ASCAP membership and submit your live performance returns to collect this royalty.