ASCAP
American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers - a performing rights organization that licenses and collects royalties for public performances.
Definition
ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) is one of the major performing rights organizations (PROs) in the United States. Founded in 1914, it represents over 900,000 songwriters, composers, and music publishers.
ASCAP licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works and distributes royalties collected from venues, broadcasters, streaming services, and other music users. As a non-profit, member-owned organization, it returns the maximum amount of royalties to its members.
Why It Matters
For songwriters and composers, ASCAP membership is essential for collecting performance royalties whenever their music is played publicly. This includes radio airplay, TV broadcasts, streaming, live performances, and background music in businesses.
Music marketers must understand PRO licensing when planning campaigns involving music. Any public use of copyrighted music requires proper licensing, and ASCAP's blanket licenses make this process manageable for businesses.
Examples in Practice
A songwriter's hit single playing on radio stations nationwide generates ASCAP royalties each time it airs - potentially tens of thousands of dollars annually for a Top 40 hit.
A restaurant chain pays an annual ASCAP blanket license fee to legally play background music across all locations, rather than negotiating with individual rights holders.
When a song is used in a TV commercial, ASCAP tracks the airings and distributes performance royalties to the writers and publishers.