Best PRO

[matthoggard]

Ok, advice please.BMI or ASCAP?Which one do you prefer. Im sigining up and am unsure if one is better than the other.Please and thanks.M~

[davewalton]

Dec 9, 2008, 6:56pm, matthoggard wrote:Ok, advice please.BMI or ASCAP?Which one do you prefer. Im sigining up and am unsure if one is better than the other.Please and thanks.M~Here's my take...For any given "speciality" you can find the best of the best in both places. For example... songwriters. Kara DioGuardi is BMI and Diane Warren is ASCAP. If there really was a difference they'd both belong to the "best" one. Same with film/tv people, performing artists, etc. Heavy hitters on both sides so there can't be much of a difference. I picked BMI... easier to remember (fewer letters).

[adrienne]

Dec 9, 2008, 7:13pm, davewalton wrote:I picked BMI... easier to remember (fewer letters). They still let you attend the ASCAP convention though? Who did you pay off? LOL

[suzdoyle]

I like how easy ASCAP is to register one's songs online with; and their search functions are pretty clear. I'd suggest checking out the web sites of all 3 PROs (ASCAP, BMI & SESAC) and decide which one feels best to you functionality-wise. ,Suz

[guscave]

I've been a member of BMI since the mid 80's and a few months ago I was contemplating moving over to ASCAP due to a problem in some royalties. However BMI did fix the problem (took about 2 months). I also have heard folks complain about ASCAP's lack of customer service. So all in all, I just don't see enough difference between the two to make a change.

[southpaw]

I am also in the process of choosing a PRO. I talked to the nashville Ascap office and asked them a few questions and they were very curteous and professional. I am trying to figure out if there is a general difference in payment between the two. I understand they both have different percentages/equations for payout, but in general is there a difference? I suppose this would be hard to answer since you cant be a member of both. (maybe if you had a 50/50 copyright split with another writer who was with a different PRO, you could get a true tell) I have heard people say that bmi pays out more - initially and then tapers off, but they dont collect for you very aggressively; while Ascap aggressively collects but pays out more-consistantly throughout a long period of time. Is this somewhat accurate?More precisely, and maybe more practical to get an answer to, what are the functional differences between the two. I.E is ASCAP is better for say performers and BMI better for people who focus on getting their recorded songs used?

[hummingbird]

Dec 12, 2008, 1:58pm, southpaw wrote:I am also in the process of choosing a PRO. I talked to the nashville Ascap office and asked them a few questions and they were very curteous and professional. I am trying to figure out if there is a general difference in payment between the two. I understand they both have different percentages/equations for payout, but in general is there a difference? I suppose this would be hard to answer since you cant be a member of both. (maybe if you had a 50/50 copyright split with another writer who was with a different PRO, you could get a true tell) I have heard people say that bmi pays out more - initially and then tapers off, but they dont collect for you very aggressively; while Ascap aggressively collects but pays out more-consistantly throughout a long period of time. Is this somewhat accurate?More precisely, and maybe more practical to get an answer to, what are the functional differences between the two. I.E is ASCAP is better for say performers and BMI better for people who focus on getting their recorded songs used? This question gets asked all the time (not that there's anything wrong with that) - I'm sure we just had a thread on this last week. The answer is always the same - pretty much no difference between the two. here's the discussionhttp://taxi.proboards27.com/index.cgi?board=biz&action=display&thread=10582HTH PS- I belong to SOCAN but am affiliated with ASCAP. I chose ASCAP because I'd met Ralph Murphy.

[southpaw]

Thanks hummingbird, i chose ASCAP. Mind telling me a quick Pros v. Cons on registering as a writer or: writer and publisher When is it advantageous in ones career to consider starting their own publishing company, is that only practical once you have found a market that wants your music and have a good revenue stream coming in from your music? -- my thought is this - If im Dave Matthews, everybody knows my name and i am exploiting my music myself by performing and people come to me to use my music why would i pay a third party except to administrate. On the other hand if im joe blow from kokomo and nobody knows who i am - is it likely more work than its worth to start a publishing company until you understand the different ways and find ways to make money with your music - which a proffesional publisher, if your lucky, will take half or so of your copyrights/income to do for you because he knows how to do it. Am i on track with this? Thanks again.

[hummingbird]

Dec 12, 2008, 6:15pm, southpaw wrote:Thanks hummingbird, i chose ASCAP. Mind telling me a quick Pros v. Cons on registering as a writer or: writer and publisher When is it advantageous in ones career to consider starting their own publishing company, is that only practical once you have found a market that wants your music and have a good revenue stream coming in from your music? -- my thought is this - If im Dave Matthews, everybody knows my name and i am exploiting my music myself by performing and people come to me to use my music why would i pay a third party except to administrate. On the other hand if im joe blow from kokomo and nobody knows who i am - is it likely more work than its worth to start a publishing company until you understand the different ways and find ways to make money with your music - which a proffesional publisher, if your lucky, will take half or so of your copyrights/income to do for you because he knows how to do it. Am i on track with this? Thanks again.I don't understand, personally, the logic of starting a publishing company. You don't need to start one to get your share of the publishing from your deals.Unless you have extensive contacts in the music industry with music supervisors, tv producers, film directors, record producers & A&R reps (and live in Nashville or LA so you can do coffee/lunch/hang with your contacts) , chances are you'll find yourself making deals with music publishers and music libraries to place your music.The only way a music publisher or music library gets paid is if they place music. They will ask for 0, 25, 50, 75 or 100% of the publishing (depending on the deal), you will always get your songwriting, and they will likely share the synch fee with you. Because they work to have the contacts & maintain those relationships, find out who's looking for what, maintain a cataloque and actively pitch it to opps every day of the week.I prefer to focus on creating the product, and I don't have any issue with having music libraries or publishers as members of my team... the team that works to get my music working for me.Just my humble opinion, of course. Keep or sweep.

[andreh]

Dec 12, 2008, 6:26pm, hummingbird wrote:I don't understand, personally, the logic of starting a publishing company. You don't need to start one to get your share of the publishing from your deals....but you do need to register as a publisher with your PRO to collect any publishing $ owed to you.I have no objection to music libraries or publishers pitching my material and taking a cut for their efforts...H'bird's "team" analogy is a good one. However, when I land licensing deals myself and maintain publishing rights (which has been the case in the majority of the deals I've been lucky enough to secure), I want to be able to collect.Also, according to Jason Blume, if you're pitching songs to artists/labels it's a good idea to come across as a publishing company (even if a small one)...seems you'll be more likely taken seriously and have a shot at getting your songs heard.André