What is a Performing Rights Organization (PRO)?

A Performing Rights Organization (PRO) collects royalties on behalf of their songwriters and music publishers. These organizations offer a wide range of services including licensing songs to artists, managing the royalties of songwriters, and distributing royalties to those who are entitled. There are three main types of PROs: General PROs, which represent all songwriters; Songwriter PROs, which represent songwriters for a particular genre or style; and Music Publisher PROs, which represent publishers who own the copyright to songs in their catalogues.

The Role of the Music Industry in the Past and Today - What are ASCAP, BMI, SESAC?

The following are some well-known PROs that represent various musical genres:. BMI is a General PRO that represents most types of music, including hip-hop, pop, rock, and country.

BMI is a not-for-profit performance rights organization that represents the majority of music genres. They are responsible for licensing the public performances of songwriters, composers and music publishers. The organization currently has over 440,000 members that are paid through their annual dues.

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is a not-for-profit performance rights organization that looks to protect the rights of songwriters, composers and publishers of musical, theatrical, television and film music. ASCAP works to ensure creators are compensated for public performances of their work, from broadcasting or streaming a song on the radio to playing it in a restaurant.

SESAC is one of the world's leading music rights organization, with its headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee. It administers public performance rights for over 600,000 recordings and over a million songwriters, composers and music publishers.

What do ASCAP, BMI and SESAC Provide?

Performing rights is an entity that protects the copyright holder of a musical work by collecting royalties when the work is performed in public. It's also called "performance royalties" or "public performance royalties." PPRs are typically collected by performing rights societies which often license the rights on behalf of musical copyright holders. and public performance licensees.For example, the US Copyright Office or PPRs collect royalties for performances in the United States. The Harry Fox Agency collects royalties on behalf of songwriters and music publishers for performances in the United States and some other countries, including Canada. What are Mechanical royalties

Mechanical royalties are payments made to the writer or composer of a song for the right to record and sell that song. Mechanical royalties are one form of copyright revenue, which is generally divided between the songwriter and the performer on a 50-50 basis. The term "mechanical royalties" is often used to refer specifically to statutory mechanical royalties, which are collected by means of a government-mandated levy on the sale of sound recordings.

How can an Independent Musician use PROs to Get Paid Royalties?

In this section, we will explore how an independent musician can use PROs to get paid royalties.

The first step is to identify the PRO that you are affiliated with. If you are not affiliated with any PRO, then the first step is to find one.

The next step is to register for an account on the PRO's website and fill out all of the required forms. This process should take no more than 20 minutes and most PROs will provide a registration form online, so it's easy to fill out and submit electronically.

Once your application has been submitted, you have to go through the process of registering your songs with the PRO. If your songs are not registered with the PRO, they will not have the information to needed to collect royalties on your behalf.

You can also use third party companies like Songtrust to assist with with the collection of royalties from platforms like YouTube. Songtrust is a company that helps independent musicians get paid royalties from songwriting with PRO licensing agreements. Songtrust provides a platform for musicians to upload their songs through their online portal, and pays royalties every quarter. Sign up for Songtrust here to get 20% of your registration.

Conclusion

As an independent musician, you are responsible for the creation and dissemination of your music. You are also responsible for marketing, promotion and distribution of your music. When it comes to getting paid royalties from songwriting with PRO licensing agreements, you need to be aware of the different types of licenses that exist and how they work to ensure that you get paid for your work. If you haven’t already signed up for a PRO, it’s suggested you do so quickly to take advantage of art/music.

Jugrnaut is part of production duo Arkatech Beatz. Arkatech Beatz are a Grammy nominated hip-hop production team from New York now based in Atlanta. They have produced for artists such as Big Pun, Nas, Raekwon, Jadakiss, The Game, Waka Flocka Flame, Lil Scrappy, Killer Mike, Shawty Lo, Freddie Gibbs,  Max B and others. Arkatech Beatz consists of members Jugrnaut & Mike “Trauma” D.