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ASCAP vs BMI: how to choose your PRO

Both collect performance royalties for your songs, and you can only join one at a time — so which? Here's a fair, current comparison of how they actually differ, and a simple framework to decide.

What they both do (and why you pick just one)

ASCAP and BMI are Performing Rights Organizations (PROs). Both collect public-performance royalties for your songs — radio, TV, venues, live shows, and the performance side of streaming — and pay them to you as a songwriter and publisher. Both are enormous, cover every genre, and are effectively free to join as a writer. You can only be affiliated with one PRO at a time for your catalog, so this is a real choice, not a “join both” situation.

For most independent artists the day-to-day experience is more similar than different. The meaningful distinctions are structure, payout timing, and contract terms.

The biggest difference: nonprofit vs for-profit

ASCAP is a nonprofit, member-owned organization — it's governed by a board of songwriters and publishers and returns the large majority of what it collects to members after operating costs.

BMI operated as a nonprofit for decades but became a for-profit company, and in February 2024 a group led by private-equity firm New Mountain Capital acquired a majority stake. BMI has said its distribution targets are unchanged (it pointed to a target of paying out roughly 85% of licensing revenue to members) and paid affiliates a one-time $100M allocation at the sale. Still, the shift to for-profit ownership is the single most-debated difference, and some writers factor it in on principle — a share of revenue now serves owners, not only members.

If member governance and nonprofit status matter to you, that points to ASCAP. If you weigh the practical terms above the ownership model, read on.

Cost to join

  • ASCAP — free as a writer. Joining as a publisher is a one-time $50 fee, waived if you join as a writer and publisher together.
  • BMI — free as a songwriter per BMI's FAQ (some new affiliates have reported a one-time fee, so check the current cost at signup). Setting up a publishing entity carries a one-time fee (around $175 for an individual, more for an LLC/corporation or partnership).

How fast you get paid

Both pay quarterly (distributions land around February, May, August, and November). The difference is the lag between when your song is performed and when that money reaches you: BMI distributes on a slightly shorter cycle (roughly ~5.5 months after the performance quarter) than ASCAP (roughly ~6.5 months), and some live performance royalties can arrive faster. It's a modest edge to BMI on speed, not a difference in how much you ultimately earn.

Agreement terms and how to leave

This trips people up, so it's worth knowing before you sign:

  • ASCAP — a one-year term that auto-renews. You can only resign in a specific window tied to when you joined, and the request must be submitted no more than six months and no less than three months before your resignation effective date. Miss the window and you wait until the next one.
  • BMI — the writer agreement runs two years (and the publisher agreement runs five). You're committing for longer up front than with ASCAP.

Neither is a trap — but if you think you might switch later, note that leaving takes planning at both, and you'll re-register your catalog at the new PRO.

What's effectively the same

  • Both collect the same category of royalty (performance) for the song.
  • Both are exclusive — one PRO for your works at a time, so you can't double-collect.
  • Both are free to join as a writer and cover every genre and career stage.
  • Neither collects your mechanical royalties (that's The MLC) or your sound-recording royalties (that's SoundExchange). Whichever PRO you pick, you still need those.

A simple way to decide

  1. Care about nonprofit / member ownership? Lean ASCAP.
  2. Want to avoid a publisher fee and get paid a touch sooner? Lean BMI.
  3. Have co-writers already on one PRO? It's often simplest to match them — co-written songs are administered more smoothly when writers share a PRO for their split.
  4. Still torn? It's close for indies. Pick one, register your works, and move on — the bigger money leak is not signing up for The MLC and SoundExchange at all, not ASCAP-vs-BMI.

Switching later

You can move from one PRO to the other, but only during your resignation window, and you'll re-register your catalog with the new organization. It's doable — just don't expect to flip overnight, and don't let works fall through the cracks during the transition.

After you pick one

Register every song with your PRO (and with The MLC for mechanicals). As statements start arriving from your PRO, The MLC, SoundExchange, and your distributor, export the CSVs and drop them into git-royal's royalties tool to total everything by source, platform, and track in one view.

Common questions

Which is better, ASCAP or BMI?

Neither is better across the board, and anyone telling you otherwise is selling something. ASCAP is a nonprofit owned by its members and returns a larger share of what it collects; BMI pays slightly faster and is now for-profit, majority-owned by New Mountain Capital since February 2024. If the ownership model matters to you on principle, that points to ASCAP. If you want the shorter lag between a performance and the cheque, that's BMI. For most independent artists the day-to-day difference is small.

Can I be in both ASCAP and BMI?

Not for the same songs. You affiliate your catalogue with one PRO at a time as a writer, so this is a real choice rather than a both-please situation. Writers do sometimes move between them, and co-writers on the same song can each be with a different PRO — each writer's share is collected by their own organisation.

Is BMI still free to join?

BMI has historically been free for songwriters, and its own FAQ says so — though some new affiliates have reported a one-time fee, so check the cost at signup rather than trusting a guide. Registering a publishing entity is separately chargeable at both PROs. Fees move; confirm on bmi.com before you apply.

Does BMI being for-profit mean I get paid less?

It means a share of revenue now serves owners as well as members, which is a structural change worth understanding. BMI has said its distribution targets are unchanged and paid affiliates a one-time $100M allocation at the sale. The honest answer is that the long-run effect on individual payouts isn't yet settled, and anyone claiming certainty in either direction is guessing.

How much does it cost to join a PRO as a songwriter?

Very little — this is not the expensive part of a music career. Writer affiliation is free or a small one-time fee at both, and the publisher-side registration is where the real cost sits (roughly $50 at ASCAP, and around $175 and up at BMI depending on whether you register as an individual, an LLC or a partnership). Note that if you searched for ASCAP or BMI licence fees as a business owner, that's a different thing entirely: a venue licence, not a songwriter membership.

Can I switch from BMI to ASCAP later?

Yes, but only inside a resignation window defined by your agreement, and the timing matters more than the decision. Songs already registered generally stay collected by the original PRO for existing licences, so a switch is cleaner early in a catalogue than deep into one. Read your agreement's term and resignation clause before you commit either way.

A note on accuracy

This is general, informational guidance for the United States — not legal, tax, or financial advice. Fees, payout timing, and terms change, so confirm the current details on ascap.com and bmi.com before you apply, and consider a music attorney for co-writes or publishing decisions.