Should a Songwriter Join ASCAP or BMI, and Register With The MLC Too?

Signing up with a performing rights organization is only one step, because one song can earn several separate royalty streams, each collected by a different organization. Our main entertainment law for music, film and TV page covers how we help writers and publishers; this page sorts out which organization collects what, and what you have to register where. The MLC itself says it administers only "digital audio mechanical royalties" and "does not replace" the PROs or SoundExchange, which "administer royalties for other rights."

How to Set Up Collection for Your Songs, Step by Step

1. Choose one U.S. PRO as a writer. Pick ASCAP, BMI or another U.S. PRO; ASCAP's join page says a writer "can only belong to one U.S. PRO at a time."
2. Decide about a publisher membership. If no publisher represents your songs, consider joining as a publisher too, so the publisher share is collected.
3. Register each song with your PRO. List every co-writer, their shares and their PROs.
4. Sign up with The MLC. Join as a member if you are entitled to U.S. digital audio mechanical royalties, or use its Songwriter Hub if a publisher or administrator collects for you.
5. Register the same songs and splits with The MLC. Use the same titles, writers and shares you gave your PRO.
6. Register copyrights where it matters. Copyright Office registration is separate from both and controls your remedies in court.
7. If you own your recordings, look at SoundExchange too; it collects for sound recordings, not songs.

What Is the Difference Between Performance and Mechanical Royalties?

They come from different exclusive rights. Performing a song publicly is the owner's right under 17 U.S.C. 106(4), and PROs license that right in bulk. Reproducing and distributing a song in recordings is the "mechanical" right, which section 115 makes subject to a compulsory license (17 U.S.C. 115). A single stream can involve both: the Act's definition of a digital phonorecord delivery applies "regardless of whether the digital transmission is also a public performance" (17 U.S.C. 115(e)).

That is why the two systems run side by side. Our page on how performing rights organizations work, and why ASCAP and BMI are under consent decrees covers the performance side, including the antitrust decrees that shape how those two license music. The current statutory mechanical rates are on our page about the mechanical royalty rate in 2026.

What Does Joining a PRO Involve?

A writer grants the PRO the right to license public performances of their songs. BMI's standard writer agreement, for example, grants BMI "all the rights that you own or acquire publicly to perform, and to license others to perform" the works during its term, which renews in two-year periods unless either side gives notice. The same agreement lets the writer, publishers and co-writers keep the right to issue non-exclusive performance licenses directly in the United States, other than to another performing rights organization, if BMI is given written notice within the agreement's deadline. Its form also asks for cue sheets when a song is used in film or TV.

The rules on membership come from the PROs, not federal law. ASCAP's join page says joining is free for writers, and free if you join as a writer and publisher at the same time; a publisher membership on its own costs $50, non-refundable. It says ASCAP royalties are "split 50/50 between writers and publishers," that writer applications must be submitted by the writer, and that switching from another U.S. PRO requires a release from that PRO. Applicants under 18, or under the age of majority where they live, use a separate minor application. Check BMI's current terms on its own site before joining; we do not state its fees here.

Should You Join as a Writer, a Publisher or Both?

ASCAP says its royalties are split between writers and publishers. If you have a publishing deal, your publisher collects the publisher share and you join as a writer only. If you have no publisher, the publisher share still needs someone to collect it, which is why ASCAP says joining as both "ensures that you can collect all the royalties coming your way." A self-published writer can take a publisher membership for this purpose. Our music publishing services page explains what a publisher or administrator does with those shares.

What Does The MLC Collect, and What Does It Not?

The MLC is the collective the Music Modernization Act created to administer a blanket license for digital music providers to make "digital phonorecord deliveries (e.g., permanent downloads, limited downloads, or interactive streams)," in the Copyright Office's words. Under 17 U.S.C. 115(d), it offers and administers blanket licenses, collects and distributes royalties for those covered activities, maintains a musical works database and runs a claiming process. The statute limits its licensing role to reproduction and distribution rights in musical works for those covered activities, so it does not license performances.

Its scope stops at U.S. digital audio mechanicals. The Copyright Office says the song-by-song notice system stays in place for non-digital uses such as CDs and vinyl, so physical mechanicals are not paid through the blanket license. Sync income is negotiated directly, as our page on how a sync license works explains, and recording income runs through labels, distributors and SoundExchange. The MLC says connecting with it is free; it describes a Member Hub for those entitled to collect U.S. digital audio mechanical royalties and a Songwriter Hub for writers whose publisher or administrator collects for them, and it pays members monthly.

Unmatched money does not wait forever. The MLC must hold unmatched royalties for at least three years, then distribute them to known copyright owners based on market share (17 U.S.C. 115(d)(3)(H)(i), (J)). The MLC's site says its market share distributions of remaining unclaimed royalties will begin in April 2027. Our page on how The MLC pays songwriters and what happens to unclaimed royalties explains that process.

Why Do Consistent Splits Matter?

Because each organization pays from its own records. Your PRO pays from the registration you filed with it, The MLC matches streams to the songs and shares its members registered, and the statute gives The MLC a process for owners to claim shares (17 U.S.C. 115(d)(3)(C)). If co-writers register different percentages in different places, the records conflict, and sorting that out can hold up payment. Agree on splits in writing at the session, then register the same titles, writers, publishers and shares everywhere.

Copyright registration is separate again. It is not required to collect royalties, but it is generally required before suing over a U.S. work, and its timing affects statutory damages (17 U.S.C. 411(a), 412); our page on registering a song: the composition, the recording, or both explains the choices.

Where Does SoundExchange Fit In?

On the recording side, not the song side. For transmissions by eligible nonsubscription and new subscription services covered by Part 380 of the Copyright Royalty Board rules, the Copyright Royalty Judges designate SoundExchange as the collective that receives payments from licensees and distributes them to sound recording copyright owners and performers (37 CFR 380.4). A songwriter who is also the recording artist or owns the masters may be owed money there as well. Our page on how artists get paid when recordings stream on internet radio covers that system. For income from abroad, see collecting performance royalties for recordings from other countries.

What Changes the Answer

• A publishing deal. Your publisher may register with your PRO and The MLC for you; check what it handles (115(d)).
• An administrator. An administrator may collect publisher income for you; The MLC's Songwriter Hub is meant for writers in that position.
• Owning your masters. Recording royalties, including SoundExchange for eligible noninteractive transmissions, become your business too (37 CFR 380.4).
• Physical releases. CD and vinyl mechanicals are outside the blanket license and come through the song-by-song system.
• Co-writers in other PROs. Each writer collects through their own PRO; each registration should match.
• Being under 18. ASCAP uses a separate minor application; check any other PRO's own rules.

A Worked Example

Common Mistakes

• Joining a PRO and skipping The MLC. PROs do not collect digital mechanicals; The MLC says it does not replace them.
• Joining as a writer only with no publisher. The publisher share needs someone to collect it.
• Trying to join two U.S. PROs as a writer. ASCAP says a writer can belong to only one at a time.
• Mismatched splits. Different percentages in different databases delay payment.
• Expecting The MLC to pay for vinyl or sync. Its blanket license covers U.S. digital audio uses only.
• Waiting to register. Unmatched royalties held three years or more can be distributed by market share (115(d)(3)(H), (J)).

What to Do This Week

1. List every song you have written, with co-writers and agreed splits.
2. Confirm which U.S. PRO you and each co-writer belong to.
3. Decide whether you need a publisher membership.
4. Sign up with The MLC and register your songs, or confirm your publisher has.
5. Check that titles and splits match across your PRO and The MLC.
6. If you own recordings, look into SoundExchange registration.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is ASCAP or BMI Better?

That depends on your goals and their current terms; both license public performances of songs. Compare each one's agreement, term, fees and support, and remember the one-PRO rule for writers.

Does The MLC Pay Performance Royalties?

No. The statute limits its licensing role to reproduction and distribution rights for covered activities (17 U.S.C. 115(d)(3)(C)).

Do I Need a Publisher to Join The MLC?

No. The MLC says anyone entitled to U.S. digital audio mechanical royalties should become a member, including self-administered songwriters.

Does The MLC Collect From Other Countries?

Not under the blanket license. The MLC describes its blanket licenses as covering eligible streaming and download services in the United States. Ask your publisher or PRO how income from other countries reaches you.

Can I Switch PROs Later?

Yes, subject to each PRO's rules. ASCAP says you need a release from your current U.S. PRO, and BMI's writer agreement runs for set terms with a notice window before each ends.

Do I Have to Register Copyrights to Get Paid?

Not to collect from a PRO or The MLC, which use their own registrations. Copyright Office registration matters for enforcing the song in court.

Zala IP Law advises songwriters, producers and publishers on PRO affiliation, MLC registration, split sheets and publishing agreements across the United States and internationally. If your royalties are not adding up, request a consultation or call 404-313-1701, and bring your catalog list and any publishing or co-writer agreements.