Switching from one PRO to Another

[jlizerbram]

Hi,I wanted to know if any songwriters here have switched PRO's (like from BMI to ASCAP, or ASCAP to SESAC, for example). I am looking to switch my affiliation, simply because I feel I could be getting more out of a different PRO (and maybe the grass is greener on the other side!). If so, how do you do it? As a songwriter, can you overlap belonging to two PRO's while the original affiliation is being terminated?By the way, as a rather new songwriter, I haven't accumulated any royalties yet, so I would think dis-affiliating would rather be easy since there is no money involved.I heard you need to send a Release of Affiliation to them, but my current PRO is not communicative at all in the process - I guess they purposefully make it hard to dis-affiliate. Any suggestions or experiences shared here would be appreciated.Thanks,Jeff

[k o star]

hi Jeff,I recently switched PROs cos I shifted countries...It was a little bit of a pain cos I had to wait 3 months after informing my old PRO...I'm not sure but I think it's the same procedure with all PROs worldwide... I think.The best thing U could do is ask them...I had to write a formal cancellation letter to my old PRO... but I was granted temporary membership from my new PRO during the wait... however, what was inconvenient was that I couldn't be provided my IPI no. during that wait... & some music Libraries require that from U before submitting anything to them... Just tell Ur new PRO abt the old one & ask them what's the best way I guess... HTH...Kel

[k o star]

"I heard you need to send a Release of Affiliation to them, but my current PRO is not communicative at all in the process - I guess they purposefully make it hard to dis-affiliate. Any suggestions or experiences shared here would be appreciated."Yes... I went thru that too... Let Ur new PRO know...What I also did was, I sent a Letter of Release/cancellation to my old PRO & I made sure that the same email was sent out to my new PRO so there is witness of the date sent, if U know what I mean...I actually had to chase after them for several months but I was very persistent& eventually it worked =)K

[jlizerbram]

Thanks, Kel,I actually did get a fairly quick response from the administrator of my old PRO this morning. They instructed me to send a letter via courier (e-mail is not sufficient). They at first didn't tell me where to send it, except to the local office..of which there are several! Given that I applied online, I had to ask them where my local office was, and they responded with an actual name and address, so that's good. Thanks for the info. -Jeff

[k o star]

Good Luck Jeff!!I was so happy when I received my new IPI no. just last month!!K