ascap/bmi works registration - how soon?

[monteverdejon]

question: do y'all register your tracks with your P.R.O. (ascap/bmi) as soon as you write them, as soon as you submit them to TAXI or a library, or is it kind of a "meh" thing until someone expresses interest in picking it up?

the diligent approach would be to register them right away, of course, but i'm wondering if people let it slip until they need to register it, or if it's a really bad idea to do that.

thanks!
jon

[mazz]

I don't register them, I let the publisher or library do that.

[monteverdejon]

cool, thanks mazz.

[kclements]

What about IRSC codes. Does anyone assign those to their tracks, or is that just for CD releases?

kc

[monteverdejon]

kc, not sure. are there cases where payments/royalties/etc. are tracked via ISRC?

aaand a quick googling has schooled me. here's the link where i read up on it:
http://www.johnvestman.com/ISRC.htm

so generally it sounds like this code/works registration stuff matters more when you're publishing/distributing/selling your music yourself, as opposed to working with a publisher or library.

[Ben Stubbs]

Thanks Mazz. If the work is already registered with ASCAP/BMI or whatever, does the company or (publisher) have the ability to edit it, or will they need me to edit it? Or is it done another way? Thanks.

[Ben Stubbs]

Woa, Jon, that website Vestman Studios is the same studio that mastered one of my old bands' CD. What a coincidence! Good source for information, glad you found it.

[Hookjaw Brown]

I embed the ISRC code into the WAV file before submission. It is no harder than embedding the song title and composer.

[jparker]

One of the guys at a library told me they would rather the songs not be registered so they can do them without having to go through the trouble of editing the existing registration.

[monteverdejon]

i'm just getting my feet wet in this whole thing, but the non-exclusive places i've talked to so far have said they would either create their own entry with the P.R.O. so they would get a publishing share, or asked me to rename the song to something completely different so their entry wouldn't get confused with mine.

both of which make sense to me; i just wasn't sure if there was any self-protection advantage to registering the work on your own with 200% writer's share before shopping it to non-exclusive places. (in exclusive cases i would expect them to do it, since they're the only ones who will carry the track.)