Most independent artists know their distributor pays them for streams and stop there, without realizing there's a second, separate kind of royalty that only shows up if you've registered with a Performance Rights Organization. It's easy to skip because nothing about uploading to DistroKid or TuneCore mentions it.
What a PRO Actually Does
A Performance Rights Organization collects performance royalties — money generated when your song is performed publicly, which legally covers things like radio play, live performances, and certain kinds of streaming and sync use, separately from the per-stream royalty your distributor already pays you. Without registering with one, that money either goes uncollected or ends up somewhere other than your pocket. It's not a scam or an upsell; it's a genuinely separate revenue stream most new artists don't know exists until someone tells them.
ASCAP vs BMI
In the US, the two you'll run into are ASCAP and BMI. Functionally they do the same job — collect performance royalties on your behalf and pay them out — and you can only join one as a songwriter at a time. ASCAP charges a small one-time membership fee; BMI is free to join. Beyond that, the practical difference for a new independent artist is minor enough that "whichever one you sign up for first" is a reasonable way to decide, rather than treating it as a high-stakes choice.
What Registering Actually Requires
Signing up as a songwriter member is the first step, and it's separate from registering each individual song once it's written and released. You'll need basic details for each track — title, writer splits if you co-wrote it, release date — entered into the PRO's system. It takes longer to sit down and do it than it does to actually understand, and it's the kind of task that's easy to keep pushing to "later" the same way planning a release date early is easy to push off until it's too late to matter.
Is It Worth It for a Small Catalog?
For an artist with a handful of songs and modest stream counts, the performance royalties collected in year one might be small. That's not really the point — registration is free or nearly free, takes an afternoon, and the songs stay registered as your catalog and stream counts grow. It's a one-time setup cost against royalties you'd otherwise just never receive, which makes it worth doing even before your first-week numbers are anything to write home about. None of this paperwork is the fun part of releasing music, which is exactly why it's worth knocking out early, so the actual promotion work — the release video, the posts, the pitching — is what you're spending your energy on closer to release day, not admin you kept putting off.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I register with a PRO before my song is released?
You can join as a songwriter member anytime, but you'll typically register the specific song once it has a confirmed release date and title, not while it's still unfinished.
Do PROs cover Spotify and Apple Music streaming royalties?
Not the core per-stream royalty — that comes from your distributor. PROs cover performance royalties, which is a separate category that can include certain streaming-related performance income depending on the platform and how it's classified.
Is there a cost to join ASCAP or BMI?
BMI is free to join as a songwriter. ASCAP charges a small one-time membership fee. Neither charges an ongoing subscription.
