In order to truly protect your music you will need to publish your music. Music publishing is not the same as copyrighting your music. When you copyright your music you are only registering your music with the Library of Congress, which proves that the song belongs to you, but there is no real way to get paid for the playing or performance of your music. The Library of Congress does not search out piracy offenders in any way. In other words, some one half way across the country claiming to be you can get paid using your talent, while only being partially liable for his or her actions.
When you publish your music, a music publisher registers your music with the Integrated Copyrighting Group (ICG). ICG registers your songs with the Library of Congress and it is ICG, along with your music publisher, that truly have the authority to protect your music from piracy offenders. When a piracy offender is suspected, ICG brings it to your music publishers' attention and the necessary steps are taken to handle the situation. A good music publishing company can be hard to find when you are an independent artist. Music publishers may even charge you a small fee for protecting your music. Music publishing can be done for free by a reputable music publishing company. KBJ will give you this contact information if you are willing to read more.
You cannot publish your music until you are a registered member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). ASCAP is in charge of keeping up with a musician's broadcast and performance royalties. Performance royalties are the monies that an artist receives whenever his or her song is played on the radio or performed in any venue that is licensed by ASCAP. (i.e. nightclubs, theaters, websites, etc.) You cannot become a licensed member of ASCAP until your song has been played on the radio or performed in any venue licensed by ASCAP. If you need to know if a venue is licensed by ASCAP just ask. ASCAP is not the only licensing authority, but one of many. BMI and Sesac are two other major licensing authorities, however, ASCAP is the more popular of the three. Music publishing can be done directly from the ASCAP website, www.ascap.com. Music publishers can publish songs online in a few simple steps.
Once your music has been played or performed in a licensed ASCAP venue, your next step is to log on to the ASCAP website, (www.ascap.com), click join ASCAP, and fill out the writer application. You may also fill out a publisher application if you would like to handle your own radio and broadcast royalties. After you have filled out the application, ASCAP will process and confirm your info. You will then be mailed an ASCAP membership card proving that you are now a licensed writer and/or publisher. Some artists perfer to handle their own publishing, however, some perfer to use an outside music publisher because publishers can sometimes have connections to radio stations and retail stores.
Now that you are a licensed writer and/or publisher under ASCAP, you are now ready to contact your music publisher. If you are a licensed ASCAP writer you may contact Bryan Barrett for Barrettunes Music by e-mailing him at.
