Key Terms

PROs play a part in helping you collect all of a songwriter’s Publishing royalties. PROs are entities that represent songwriters and publishers, ensuring they receive performance royalties when their music is publicly performed. These organizations collect and distribute royalties to rights holders when songs are played on the radio, in live venues, streaming services, TV, or anywhere public performance occurs. PROs only handle this aspect - the broader sources of publishing royalties, like mechanical royalties, do not go through a PRO at all.

United States: ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers), BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.), and SESAC with GMR (Global Music Rights) and AllTrack some examples of newer PROs

International: PRS for Music (UK), SOCAN (Canada), and SACEM (France). Most countries in the world have at least one PRO.

1. Registration: Songwriters and publishers register their compositions with a PRO.
   
   
2. Tracking: PROs monitor and track performances of music on various platforms. PROs have reciprocal agreements with other PROs globally where money is collected by the local country PRO and then passed to the Songwriter’s PRO.
   
   
3. Royalty Distribution: Collected royalties are distributed to songwriters / composers / lyricists and their publishers. Songwriters receive some of their royalties directly from the PRO (their songwriter "writer" share) while their publishing share administered by Warner Chappell Music, collects money that is then passed to ReverbNation before being paid to you

A songwriter's own personal "publishing entity” at a PRO is different from having a publisher or a publishing administrator. If a songwriter joined a Performing Rights Organization, they may only have joined as a songwriter, but they could have chosen to create a publishing entity during that process. If you have a PRO publishing entity, ReverbNation Publishing will become the administrator of your entity with Warner Chappell Music performing ReverbNation Publishing’s administration duties. A PRO publishing entity does not have a broader function in terms of collecting royalties outside the PRO system. These publishing entities are listed on the song registration everywhere, including at Mechanical organizations.

The IPI (Interested Parties Information) number is a unique identifier assigned to songwriters, composers, and publishers when they register with a PRO. This number ensures accurate tracking and payment of royalties by helping PROs and other music organizations identify the correct rights holders for a piece of music. A songwriter has a single unique IPI number. Any publishing entities that exist with a PRO will also have a unique IPI number. IPIs are 9-11 digits.

Importance of IPI Numbers:

• Identification: The IPI number helps prevent conflicts and errors in royalty distributions by uniquely identifying the rights holders.

• Global Tracking: As a part of the international music rights infrastructure, IPI numbers are recognized across PROs worldwide, facilitating seamless royalty collection and distribution across borders.

An ISRC (International Standard Recording Code) number is a unique identifier assigned to a specific sound recording or music video. It acts as a digital fingerprint for each recording, allowing for the precise tracking and management of its use and royalty payments. The ISRC is crucial for identifying recordings in various databases and ensuring that rights holders are properly compensated for their work. An ISRC is 12 alphanumeric digits.

An ISWC (International Standard Musical Work Code) is a unique identifier assigned to a musical composition (the song itself, including the melody and lyrics) rather than a specific recording of the song. This code is used to distinguish a musical work from its various recorded versions, which would have their own ISRC numbers. An ISWC number is made up of the letter “T” followed by 9 digits and a “check digit” that protects the ISWC against allocation errors. It follows this format: T-123456789-Z.