PROs and Registration: How Songwriters Get Paid for Performances

The short version

A PRO, or Performing Rights Organization, collects money on behalf of songwriters and publishers when their music is performed publicly, then pays it out to them. In the US the main PROs are ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, and Global Music Rights. If you write music, affiliating with a PRO and registering your songs is how you get paid when your music is played on radio, in venues, on TV, and on streaming services. If you are not registered, that money may not reach you.

What a PRO actually does

Every time music is performed publicly, a performance royalty is generated on the composition (the song). "Publicly" is broad: radio airplay, a song in a restaurant or venue, a TV show, a stream on a streaming service. Tracking every one of these and collecting the money is impossible for an individual songwriter to do alone. That is what a PRO exists for. They license music to all these users in bulk, collect the fees, and distribute the money to the songwriters and publishers whose music was played.

You affiliate with one PRO, register your songs and their splits, and they handle collection and payment on the performance side.

The main US PROs

ASCAP and BMI are the two largest, both long-established, and either is a standard choice for most songwriters. SESAC and Global Music Rights are smaller and operate by invitation. For most independent songwriters, the practical decision is ASCAP or BMI. They differ in some details of payout and structure, but both do the core job of collecting your performance royalties.

For most independent songwriters, either ASCAP or BMI is the standard starting point. You affiliate with one PRO as a writer. If you have a publishing entity, that affiliates too.

IPI and CAE numbers

When you affiliate with a PRO, you get an IPI number (Interested Party Information number, sometimes called a CAE number). This is your unique ID in the global system that tracks who wrote what. It is how your PRO and others identify you and route your money correctly. This is why split sheets and songwriter agreements ask for it: to make sure everyone's share is registered under the right IPI so the money flows to the right people. Keep your IPI handy, because you will need it whenever you register songs or document splits.

Registering your songs

Affiliating is step one. You also have to register each song with your PRO, including the writer splits (which is why documenting splits matters). If a song is written by multiple people, each writer registers their share with their own PRO, and the shares need to match across everyone so the total is correct. Mismatched or missing registration is a common reason songwriters do not get paid what they are owed.

What PROs do not cover: the other collectors

PROs handle performance royalties on the composition. But there are other types of music income collected by other organizations, and confusing them is common:

The MLC (Mechanical Licensing Collective) handles mechanical royalties for streaming and downloads in the US on the composition side. Songwriters and publishers register with the MLC to collect these mechanicals, which are separate from the performance royalties a PRO collects.

SoundExchange, the US neighboring rights organization (NRO), collects royalties on the master recording side for certain digital and satellite radio performances, paying performers and master owners. This is separate from PROs (which pay the composition side) and from the MLC.

The PRO, the NRO, and the MLC together make up your collective management organizations (CMOs): the three types of body that collect the different slices of your royalties. A fully registered songwriter and artist might be affiliated with a PRO (performance royalties, composition), registered with the MLC (mechanical royalties, composition), and registered with SoundExchange as their NRO (certain digital performance royalties, master). Each collects a different slice. Missing one means leaving money uncollected.

How keysig helps

keysig does not collect royalties. That is the job of your PRO, the MLC, SoundExchange, and your distributor. What keysig does is keep the ownership documentation clean underneath all of it: split sheets and agreements that capture the correct splits, PRO affiliations, and IPI numbers, so when you register with these organizations, your paperwork is accurate and the money flows correctly.