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Glossary · Royalties

ASCAP

By Boboy Watson·Last verified September 1, 2026·Also called American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, ASCAP membership

ASCAP is the oldest US performing rights organization and the only one that is member-owned and operated on a non-profit basis, governed by a board elected by its writer and publisher members. It licenses radio, television, streaming services, venues, restaurants, retailers and anywhere else compositions are performed publicly, then distributes what it collects to the writers and publishers of the works performed, less operating costs.

Joining is open to anyone with a work written or in progress. It is free: ascap.com/join states that "Joining ASCAP is free for writers, or if you join as a writer and publisher at the same time", checked 1 September 2026. The $50 one-time non-refundable fee is narrower than it looks — it is the price of a publisher account taken on its own, either added after you are already an ASCAP writer or taken by someone who publishes but does not write. Apply for both at once and you pay nothing. Both accounts matter: ASCAP pays the writer share to the writer account and the publisher share to the publisher account, and without the second one, half of your performance royalty has no destination.

Choosing between ASCAP and BMI is no longer a wash on money. For a writer account alone, both are free and cost is not a tiebreaker. For both halves — writer and publisher — ASCAP is free if you apply for the two together, and BMI is not: BMI affiliates songwriters for nothing but charges a one-time processing fee for a publisher account, and it no longer publishes the amount. Its join page asks for a US credit card "for payment of a one-time processing fee" and states no figure, and its publisher agreements contain none. Checked 1 September 2026. Neither pays better as a rule, and neither will tell you otherwise in writing.

The misunderstanding: that joining ASCAP means you are registered. Affiliation is step one. Every individual song still has to be registered as a work with ASCAP, with correct co-writer shares, or performances of it will not attach to you. And ASCAP does not cover mechanical royalties — those go through The MLC — or anything on the sound recording side.

I hold my own PRO accounts; check ascap.com for current terms before joining.

Definitions on this site describe the United States system. I am an artist who has been through this, not a lawyer.