Get it Right when you Write: Part 2 Registering Songs
Welcome back my brave song warriors.
How is the music coming? Have you figured out the splits in each room? Are the deliveries to the societies complete in all their glorious metadata goodness? Have you gone back obsessively to figure out the pieces you have missed on past projects and flooded their systems as you feel a new refreshed hope for this industry of entertainment?
Okay, maybe one step too far there at the end. Wait, no, that has sparked an idea – because great that you know it all now, but how to do you know the data is where it should be?
Now that you’ve place deliverer, we’re going to talk a little bit about being your own registration monitoring machine, specifically at you PRO (Performing Rights Organization) and at the MLC (you already know my love goes deep here).
A few handy sites to check out your works:
US PROs:
- ASCAP: https://www.ascap.com/repertory#/
- BMI: https://repertoire.bmi.com
- SESAC: https://www.sesac.com/repertory/
- GMR: https://globalmusicrights.com/search
MLC: https://portal.themlc.com/search#work
(PS – if you previously submitted your works to HFA, this built on that historical information, so all of that data should have moved nicely.)
Each of these sites has your typical search terms of Title and Writer. They also include a few other fields you could utilize to get more bang for your buck (you can even combine two fields or more to hone in on what you need!):
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- Performer – on the PROs only; if recording information has been submitted with the composition, this will have the linked artist. This isn’t a given on every song, so having that writer information is vitalto see all iterations of your songs.
- Work ID / Work Number / Song Code – once a song has been added to these databases, the societies will assign a numeric or alphanumeric code that helps them identify each composition
Special shout out to ASCAP and BMI here because while they maintain their own Work IDs, they have made incredible strides to link their database information so you can see all the info from both sides on one song in Songview!
- Publisher - handy if you want to see a full catalog picture (hopefully - this involves all the songs being linked to the right place)
- ISWC – that lovely International Standard Musical Work Code, also usually assigned by the PRO, but unique per composition, whereas the work IDs are unique per composition AND per society.
- Writer / Publisher IPI – handy extra on the MLC’s site to search on your own identifiers – awesome for checking that all your works are linked up to you.
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Now I have a belief that a songwriter knows their catalog better than anyone else, so you’re going to be the one who knows what to look for in each of these sites. Kick back with a good album on (I’m rocking to a little old school Avril over here myself,) and start making a list. I mean everything you’ve written. Okay, maybe not that one called “Teddy Bear Rock” when you were 9 that stands absolutely no chance of every seeing the light of day beyond that Roland Rogers playground recess with the girl group you swore would be your future… but, every song that stands a chance of making it to the public. If it gets performed or recorded, you may be due a royalty.
Now with that list, you’ll want to probably start with your own PRO – whoever you’re a member with. Search every song on your list. Note the Work ID/Song Code (it’s just handy to have, and the best piece of info to have on hand if you have to ask questions or get something fixed). It can’t hurt to note your ISWC too. A couple of things you’ll want to note in this process as well:
- Duplicate song listings
- Missing co-writers or incorrect names
- Your IPIs (both writer and publisher)
- AKAs – Alternative Titles
- If your publishing information is correct (including contact – a lot of companies, supervisors, etc. use these sites to locate publishers to license (and thus PAY))
- The total PRO represented split – the front search won’t break down splits, but you may get a decent idea if they have it right.
Example: Caitie and I are BMI writers, Erin is SESAC. BMI shows a total represented split of 66.67%. That means our thirds are each probably registered correctly with them.
Once all looks good at your home PRO, it would be beneficial to check the PROs of your co-writers. It can’t hurt to make sure you are also properly credited there, since you wouldn’t have been responsible for those registrations.
And of course, I’m going to tell you to go on and check the MLC. This will have similar information listed and then some. It’s not terribly robust yet (though I’m sure if you gave them more it could be!), but the MLC has spots to show the US Copyright Information, Languages, and Song Durations. The part you’ll really get bubbly over? Scroll down. That’s right – that’s recording matches you see there!! That means your royalties are flowing through every time a match is made between this composition and one of those recordings.
Ah but how do we help those matches happen? How do you know if there’s something missing? What can you do, as a writer?
My music magicians, stay tuned – in two weeks, we talk matching and licensing.