Registering Works with BMI

[DanLuedke]

Hi Everyone,

A publisher asked me to register some music of mine with my PRO (BMI). I have not registered my own works before and have a few questions:

-Who should I list as publisher (if anyone)? If you don't list a publisher than the the writer's % should total 200%. My prospective publisher is non-exclusive and not officially the publisher of these tracks yet.

-Should I list an artist? My collaborators and I are the only ones who performed on the recordings.

-Should I list a recording? The music only exists in mp3 and WAV - no CDs or anything.

I couldn't find answers to these questions in the BMI FAQs, but let me know if I overlooked them. Thanks in advance!

[shorttonpro]

Yes, usually the non-exclusives want you to have your tracks registered first which helps them verify all the information as well.

If you don't have a publisher, then yes, the writers get the full percentage of each share (up to 200%).

For production music that isn't released on its own, I normally don't include anything for artist or recording.

Whole process goes quite fast and might just take a few days to be processed.

The non-exclusive library will re-title the track and register this on their own (and in that case will fill in their portion of the publisher's share).

[Russell Landwehr]

This is a pretty involved thing, Dan. But more simple than you think if it is for the Library I'm thinking of.
If this is a library that needs to check the "validity" of your submission to them, then the actual details of registering at BMI aren't as important as just getting it in there with your name on it so they can then register their retitled work.

Don't worry about the recording artist too much, just register it with you and your co-writers' names and affiliations, then assign the percentages so that they equal 200%.

Russell

P.S. I sent you contact info elsewhere