This article was written in collaboration with KOSIGN, a company that Ari’s Take is proud to partner with.
One question we hear songwriters, producers, and artists ask all the time is “why do I need a music publisher if I’m a member of a PRO?”. It’s a fair question. PROs – or “Performing Rights Organizations” – play a critical role in helping songwriters collect some of their royalties, but they’re only one part of the bigger royalty collection picture. In this post, we’re going to break down:
- What a PRO does
- What they can do (but may not be the best at),
- What they don’t do, and
- How a music publisher can help songwriters fill the gaps to ensure they’re receiving all of the money they are owed.
What is a Performing Rights Organization?
Performing Rights Organizations – or PROs, as they are usually called – are organizations that collect royalties on behalf of songwriters for performances and public broadcasts. For example, if your song is played on radio, television, during a DJ set at a club, or streamed on Spotify, a PRO will help you receive royalties for these uses. Different countries have different PROs – the United States has ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC, while France has SACEM, the UK has PRS for Music, South Korea has KOMCA…you get the idea.
You may be wondering how this money is actually collected by these organizations. The way it works is that radio stations, TV networks, and concert venues purchase blanket licenses from PROs that give them the rights to use songs registered with the PRO. The radio station (or equivalent) keeps a log of what songs they have played (and how many times they were played) and submits this information to the PRO. The PRO then uses this information to distribute payouts to songwriters from the pool of revenue collected from the sale of these blanket licenses.
The bottom line is that if you want to collect performance royalties, you will need to register your songs with a PRO.
Great! So If I Register my Songs with a PRO, I’m all good?
Not quite.
PROs are essential to helping songwriters collect performance royalties. However, they are limited in scope, and that scope changes depending on the country where you’re located.
+How Publishing Works and Songwriters Get Paid
For example, if you are based in the United States, PROs are unable to collect mechanical royalties, which are a different type of publishing royalty generated from the reproduction of a piece of music. Mechanical royalties are generated from downloads, CD/vinyl/cassettes, printed music, and, crucially, streaming, which generates both performance and mechanical royalties. In the US, mechanical royalties are either paid directly to a music publisher or are collected by a different set of organizations: the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) handles collection of mechanical royalties from streaming, while all other mechanical royalties are collected by the Harry Fox Agency. The bottom line here is that songwriters who rely on their PRO to collect publishing royalties are missing out on a major piece of the pie.
The International Royalty Problem
The other major limitation of PROs is their ability to collect royalties generated from outside of your home territory. Let’s say you’re a US-based artist who has registered a song with ASCAP, and your new song becomes a hit in Sweden where it’s being played on the radio, in football stadiums, and in clubs all around the country.
Collecting your performance royalties from Sweden depends on what’s called a “reciprocal agreement” between your PRO (in this case ASCAP) and the PRO/collection society in the country from which you want to collect royalties. This “reciprocal agreement” is a contract between organizations in different territories to collect the same rights type on behalf of each other’s members.
While, in theory, this helps songwriters collect global performance royalties, in practice this isn’t guaranteed. Societies don’t always proactively register your songs with their international counterparts, and since many music services have limits around retroactive payment claims, this can lead to a huge chunk of a songwriter’s income going unclaimed forever.
So wait, are PROs Bad?
Of course not!
PROs provide a critical service to songwriters. But collecting all publishing royalties – and receiving them as fast and efficiently as possible – requires much more effort beyond registering with your local PRO.
This is where a publishing administrator – or publishing admin – can help.
What is a Publishing Administrator?
A publishing admin will take care of registering your songs with PROs, music services, and collection societies all around the world to ensure you receive all of the publishing income you are owed. They handle all of the necessary paperwork so you can spend more time writing songs and less time navigating the complex web of international royalty collection societies.
Typically, music publishers offer administration in exchange for a percentage of your publishing royalties. While many independent artists may be hesitant to give up a percentage of their hard-earned royalties, it’s important to remember that ASCAP, BMI, and every other PRO also takes a percentage of your royalties! There’s a reason why the biggest songwriters in the world work with music publishers: it’s the most efficient way to ensure collection of ALL global publishing royalties, across all platforms and territories.
KOSIGN – Premium Publishing Admin at your Fingertips
KOSIGN is a publishing admin service created by Kobalt Music – the biggest independent music publisher in the world. KOSIGN ensures songwriters receive all the money they are owed by:
- Registering songs daily to music services, PROs, and mechanical collection societies around the world so no stone is left unturned
- Collecting royalties directly from over 200 PROs and other rights organizations globally
- Collecting both performance and mechanical publishing royalties
- Paying royalties with full transparency around performance, sources, and fees
KOSIGN takes advantage of the same technology that Kobalt’s roster of artists like Paul McCartney, Childish Gambino, Max Martin, and Phoebe Bridgers trust to collect their publishing royalties. They will register your songs with collection societies all over the world, and distribute payments to songwriters on a quarterly basis. Unlike traditional publishers, KOSIGN can bypass the traditional PRO system for the vast majority of international streaming royalties by going through amra, a PRO owned by Kobalt Music Group that collects directly from DSPs like Spotify. Built with flexibility in mind, KOSIGN offers a rolling quarterly term that you can cancel at any time if you decide to pursue a more traditional publishing deal down the road.
In order to deliver a premium service (including quarterly payments), KOSIGN requires an application to join their platform. If you would like to join KOSIGN, you can apply here.
If you are looking for a publishing admin service, KOSIGN is here for you.
PROs play a critical role in helping songwriters get paid for public performances of their work. However, relying on them to collect all of your publishing royalties is a sure-fire way to miss out on your hard earned cash. A music publisher doesn’t replace your PRO – they work with your PRO and hundreds of similar organizations to make sure you receive all of the money you are owed. If you’d like to take advantage of a flexible option for publishing administration, KOSIGN has you covered.
