You Need To Register Songs With ASCAP

How To Register A Song With ASCAP
What to do before releasing a song: • More Things To Do Befo...
ASCAP: www.ascap.com/
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Lately, I've been getting a lot of questions about ASCAP which is the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, which is a PRO that collects a certain type of royalty. I've noticed there's a lot of concern about what information to put where while you're registering the song. When you register a song on ASCAP, they asked for a lot of information, and about 90% of it, you don't really even need to put anything. They'll have information boxes to fill out for that song to cover all bases of almost any use for that record. Just a quick recap for some newbies. It's a performing rights organization that collects royalties for you mostly from sync licensing. That is like commercials, TV, film, and radio play. They do collect a little bit of a percentage from streaming services, but their main focus is sync licensing. That being said, when you go to ascap.com, you'll click on the music creators section. Click Join. You want to be a writer and a publisher. It will ask for all your tax information recording there will also lay out what other information you'll need to make an account. It's really just for tax purposes, your social security number, and if you have a company you'll need your tax ID.
Now let's imagine you have an account you're logging in to register a song and you'll be brought to the main dashboard in this dashboard. It has information about your works. Your cue sheets are really just information that TV and film networks will use to organize what audio they use. You just get a copy of that basically. Then there'll be different information about your earnings for the year. That's not what we're here for though. Let's imagine you're going to register a new work. It starts off pretty simple. I want to register a song that I just wrote. So I'm going to take you step by step how that process goes.
#ascap #musicbusiness #independentartist

[@TheBarePantryShow]

We're stuck at the publisher section. What do we put for that spot. My daughter is the composer, author and the publisher. Her distributor is Distrokid. Help!

[@WolfMountford]

Fck...he still hasn't responded? Well, I ain't gonna hold my breath on him answering my question... No hope for this guy

[@Odelo_Records562]

make a publisher page and make it a LLC sole proprietor and you should be able to do it from there

[@in_the_red6798]

Hey Jimmy - Thanks so much for the video. A stupid question - I've released two songs using Distrokid who state they are NOT a publisher, however they have assigned my songs an ISRC code. Is a publisher necessary? If so, who do you recommend? Should you be your own publisher? Sorry - more than one stupid question.

[@cassandrahuskey8866]

???? Dude!! Ugh- this is my first time using ASCAP, I followed this verbatim thinking theres a section where I put the Words to my song.... it never came!!! So apparently I just submitted a Title--- thats it!! Dang it!!!

[@andrescen7577]

My demo was stolen. How do I prove its mine without the actual audio file?

[@gameboycat05]

This is the exact kinda shit I'm afraid of

[@RngQuanTv]

if u have the computer it was made on u can show the backups for the audio as proof.

[@MoonCoilMedia]

Great video. Do you have one regarding registering a label at ASCAP?

[@jimmymakemusic]

I don't have a specific video for that, but labels would make a publishers account with ASCAP. It's essentially the same setup as a writers account but you'd enter the business info at sign up (Business Name, Tax ID or EIN)

[@ctm130]

what if the writer/composer is the publisher as i am should i put my name in as the publisher? And what if the writer/composer is the recording artist as I am but i'm using a band name as well but do not have a band or collaborators yett should i put my name or the band name as the recording artist

[@robertsabharwal9787]

Do you normally do this before or after it's released?

[@mariacarvalho4234]

I compose n write too so how to follow to sell it.does only lyrics u buy.i have in english hindi,n portuguese

[@johngraham9878]

Jimmy, thanks for this. A couple questions: 1> You confused me a little when you said ASCAP tracks streaming. If my Distributor sends my song to streamers, and tracks and collects royalties from them (as mine does) - then why/how would ASCAP also do that? I thought they were primarily for performance rights... 2> Do all the writers have to be ASCAP members in order to list their names, even if they are getting 0%? and 3> If I'm an indy producer and listed in ASCAP as both writer and publisher, can I enter songs for my clients? Thanks - John

[@jimmymakemusic]

Hey John! Great questions. 1. ASCAP and your distributor collect two different types of royalties on a stream. To be clear, a stream is considered a public performance, similar, but not the same, as radio. ASCAP collects that performance royalty for the writer(s) and publisher(s). Your distributor, on the other hand, collects a royalty on the Master Recording, owed to whoever owns the Master (Copyright) to the sound recording. That's similar to the money you, or a label, would get when selling a CD in a store. To make it more confusing, there are also Mechanical Royalties on the stream. Look into SongTrust for info on that, and see how they compare and contrast with the Harry Fox Agency and The Mechanical Licensing Collective. SongTrust is the least confusing way to go. To add even more confusion, artists should have a SoundExchange account, too. UGH! 2. To my knowledge, writers have to be members of ASCAP or BMI to add them as writers in their system. That doesn't mean the person is NOT a writer of the song...it just means there's no agency collecting a performance royalty for them. If it's 0% then don't add them. It's not like a copyright split. 3. You can register a song on ASCAP for your clients. But I strongly advise you have some written agreement with them if you're not a writer or publisher of said song. Things can get messy with that, and you'll be the only one who can edit the ASCAP info in the future. I know it's confusing, but I hope that helps a little.

[@johngraham9878]

Thanks so much - they don't make it easy, do they?@@jimmymakemusic

[@WolfMountford]

What if I have a CD Baby Pro/Boost account? They become my Distributor AND Publisher. Do I put THEM as the publisher or myself when filling out the ASCAP form? And, do we get a P.R.O. first and then register with a distributor and publisher. Or visa versa?

[@lueroza]

I believe for CDBABY it is SONGTRUST AVE

[@robertsabharwal9787]

Does the recording count as a performance?

[@TheOrochMusic]

Question: The registration has no links or assets to the actual song files, how does ASCAP link the registration to the song assets (audio files)?

[@timojames8385]

I believe the isrc is the link

[@215TheMovement]

interesting ..why is bmi 200%

[@rasiriusmgmt5854]

What goes in the publisher slot if we are registered to Tunecore publisher?

[@jimmymakemusic]

I'm not positive, but if you start to type "TuneCore" into the publishers box, it should auto populate "TuneCore Inc" options...or something similar. Double check your TuneCore paperwork.

[@WolfMountford]

He doesn't know what he's talking about, dude. He makes videos pretending he's an expert for views, but can't actually answer anyone's question with confidence...

[@MrA91000-medical-etc]

Hello, Let's suppoze that I would like to write some lyrics (rhymes) to get paid for this. How ASCAP will help me to do it? How will I provide my lyrics? I do not understand. I always see the same procedure in your video and in other videos as well but what happened with the lyrics. How can I provide my lyrics to them? Will they find for me a composer and a singer (mc, rapper)?

[@jimmymakemusic]

In short, ASCAP is not for registering lyrics, and they do not find you composers or singers. ASCAP should be used for full recorded songs. Once the song is registered with ASCAP it's given a "Work ID" that is attached to all writers (Lyrics and Musical) and publishers of the song. You don't give ASCAP the actual lyrics or sheet music because it's not needed for them to track a song.

[@brookbatteau6671]

Should I copy write the song first or does it matter to ASCAp

[@WolfMountford]

I don't think it matters to either ASCAP or BMI. But, you SHOULD register your copyrighted work with the US copyright office. Make sure NO ONE can steal your stuff without consequences. Copyright law is written in a very stupid way on the surface. "Copyright" is automatic upon making it a physical format. Writing, drawing, pictures, audio recording etc. REGISTERING your copyright with the US Copyright office makes a legal documented record of your work. It will help you in court if some loser tries to take your art. It gives documented PROOF that you are the owner. It's also how you officially OWN your Masters