Registering your songs with a performing rights organization (PRO) is one of the most important administrative tasks in your music career — and one of the most ignored. The process isn't complicated, but getting it wrong, or skipping it altogether, means leaving money on the table for every stream, every broadcast, and every sync placement your music earns.
This guide walks you through the full process: which PRO to choose, what information you'll need, how to complete the registration step by step, and the mistakes that cause artists to miss royalties they've already earned.
Why You Need to Register Your Songs (Before Release, Not After)
Performance royalties don't collect retroactively in any meaningful way. When your song plays on Spotify, Apple Music, terrestrial radio, or in a restaurant, the PRO collects a royalty on your behalf — but only if your song is registered in their system. If it isn't, the royalty gets held in a pool and may eventually be distributed to other members or simply go uncollected.
The gap between release and registration is where most independent artists lose money. A song that racks up 500,000 streams in its first month while unregistered isn't automatically paid out retroactively once you do register. Some PROs have limited lookback windows; others distribute pooled unmatched royalties across all registered works. Either way, you've already lost that revenue.
Register every song before it goes live on any streaming platform, radio station, or sync placement. Think of PRO registration as part of your pre-release checklist — like mastering and metadata — not an afterthought.
Registration also protects you in disputes. If a co-writer later claims a different split than what you agreed to, your PRO registration is one of the earliest paper trails showing what the split actually was at the time of release. It's not a legal contract on its own, but it's meaningful evidence.
BMI vs ASCAP vs SESAC: Which One Should You Join?
In the US, there are three main PROs for songwriters and publishers: BMI, ASCAP, and SESAC. You can only be a member of one at a time, so choosing matters — though switching is possible if your situation changes.
BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) is free to join as a songwriter and costs $150 for a publisher account. It has over 1.1 million affiliated songwriters and publishers, and is particularly strong in country, hip-hop, and R&B. BMI distributes royalties quarterly.
ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) charges a one-time $50 membership fee for songwriters. Like BMI, it requires a separate publisher account if you want to collect the publisher's share of royalties directly. ASCAP is strong in pop, classical, and theater. They also distribute quarterly.
SESAC is invite-only. You can apply, but acceptance isn't guaranteed. SESAC is smaller, distributes royalties more frequently, and is known for having strong performing arts and gospel representation. If you're early in your career, SESAC probably isn't your first stop.
If you self-publish (which you should), you need both a songwriter account and a publisher account at your PRO. Without the publisher account, you only collect the songwriter's 50% share of performance royalties — the other 50% goes uncollected or is held. See the Music Publishing 101 guide for a full breakdown of how royalty splits work.
For most independent artists starting out: join BMI or ASCAP. There's no meaningful performance difference at the indie level. Pick one, set up both a writer and publisher account, and move on.
What You Need Before You Register
Before you sit down to register a song, have the following information ready. Missing any of it will slow you down or result in an incomplete registration that needs to be fixed later.
- Song title — exactly as it appears on the release. Capitalization matters for matching.
- All co-writer names and PRO affiliations — every writer needs to be listed with their legal name and their PRO membership (BMI, ASCAP, SESAC, or an international equivalent like PRS, SOCAN, SACEM).
- Ownership splits — the percentage of the song each writer owns. These must add up to 100%. Get written confirmation from every co-writer before you register.
- Publisher information — your publisher name and PRO publisher account number, plus the same for any co-writers who have their own publishers.
- ISRC code — the International Standard Recording Code for each recording of the song. If you don't have one yet, read What Is an ISRC Code before continuing. Your distributor may have already assigned one, but you need to confirm.
- Release date and distributor — useful for verification, though not always required.
How to Register with BMI (Step-by-Step)
Step 1: Create Your BMI Accounts
Go to bmi.com and sign up as a songwriter. This is free. Once your songwriter account is approved (usually within a few business days), return and create a publisher account under your self-publishing entity. The publisher registration costs $150 — this is a one-time fee, not annual.
Step 2: Log In to BMI Repertoire
From your BMI dashboard, navigate to the "My Repertoire" section. This is where you register individual works. Click "Add a Work."
Step 3: Enter the Song Information
Fill in the work title, alternate titles (if any), and the language of the lyrics. For instrumentals, mark it as such — this affects how certain royalties are calculated internationally.
Step 4: Add All Writers and Publishers
Search for co-writers by name or BMI member number. If a co-writer is affiliated with ASCAP or SESAC instead of BMI, enter their information manually — BMI still needs to know they exist for proper split accounting with the other PRO. Assign each writer their agreed percentage. Then add the corresponding publisher for each writer.
Step 5: Enter the ISRC Code
Link the ISRC code for each commercial recording of the song. If you have multiple recordings (a demo version, an album version, a remix), each gets its own ISRC — register them all.
Step 6: Submit and Confirm
Review every field carefully, especially splits — they're very difficult to change after the fact. Submit the work. BMI will send a confirmation and the work will appear in your repertoire within a few days.
How to Register with ASCAP (Step-by-Step)
Step 1: Join as a Writer and Publisher
Go to ascap.com and pay the $50 writer membership fee. Then register a publisher account (also $50 one-time) for your self-publishing entity. Your publisher name should be distinct from your artist name — something like "Your Name Music" or "Your Artist Name Publishing" is standard.
Step 2: Access the ASCAP Member Portal
Once both accounts are active, log in to the ASCAP member portal. Navigate to "My Catalog" and select "Register a New Work."
Step 3: Fill in the Work Details
Enter the song title, writer information, and splits. ASCAP's interface is slightly more granular than BMI's — it distinguishes between the writer's share (50%) and the publisher's share (50%) and will ask you to confirm which entity is collecting each.
Step 4: Add Performers and Recordings
ASCAP lets you associate performing artists with a work, which helps with matching when a song is played. Enter the recording artist name (even if it's you under a different alias) and the ISRC for each recording.
Step 5: Submit
ASCAP processes work registrations within a few business days. You'll receive a confirmation with a unique work number — save it. If you ever need to update the registration, that number is your reference.
Common Mistakes When Registering
These are the errors that cause artists to either miss royalties or end up in disputes with co-writers.
- Wrong splits. If you and a co-writer agreed to 50/50 but one of you registers 60/40, the PRO uses whatever is in the system. Get splits in writing before you register — not after.
- Missing the ISRC. Without linking an ISRC, it's harder for the PRO to automatically match your work to performance data reported by DSPs and broadcasters. Royalties may go uncollected or require a manual claim.
- Only registering as a songwriter (not a publisher). If you only have a writer account, you only collect the writer's share. The publisher's share of your own songs goes to a holding pool or gets credited to whatever publisher is listed — which may be no one.
- Registering after release. Again: royalties don't retroactively appear when you finally get around to registering six months after your song blew up.
- Typos in co-writer names. PROs match registered works against each other internationally. A misspelled name can break the match and cause the other writer's PRO to hold their share.
- Not registering co-writers from other PROs. If your co-writer is on ASCAP and you're on BMI, their ASCAP share needs to be registered in the BMI system as well (and vice versa in their system). Both PROs need to see the full picture of the work.
There is no universal formula for song splits. 50/50 is a common default for two equal collaborators. But if one person wrote the hook, one wrote all the verses, and one just played a chord progression, equal splits may not reflect the actual contribution — and that conversation is much harder after the song is already out. Have it before you register.
What Happens After You Register
Once your song is registered, your PRO begins collecting performance royalties on your behalf wherever your music is played. This includes terrestrial radio, streaming services (via their licensing agreements with PROs), TV broadcasts, live performances in licensed venues, and more.
Royalties are typically distributed quarterly, though the exact schedule varies by PRO and sometimes by territory. Don't expect your first payment immediately — there's typically a 6–9 month lag between when a song is performed and when the royalty reaches your account. This is normal and baked into how PROs collect and process data from thousands of reporting sources.
International royalties are collected through reciprocal agreements between PROs. If your BMI-registered song gets played on French radio, SACEM (France's PRO) collects that royalty and forwards it to BMI, which distributes it to you. This process is slower — international royalties can take 12–18 months to arrive.
You can track your registered works and monitor statements in your PRO's member portal. Review your statement every quarter and flag any works that appear to be underperforming relative to what you know about their plays — sometimes matching errors or data gaps mean a song is getting plays but not generating a royalty statement. You can file a "works registration inquiry" with your PRO to investigate.
Skip the Manual Registration Grind
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