Music
organizations exist to
help support, encourage and in some cases, protect musicians and the
music
industry as a whole. There
are many
varied music organizations that all have their own mission in helping
musicians. The
following is a list of some of the more
well
known organizations for the music industry.
Most of these organizations
work to help ensure that copyrights for musical works are observed and
that the
proper person is receiving the correct amount of compensation for the
use of
that work. These
organizations help to
ensure that those in the music industry are receiving the payment that
is due
to them for the work that they have created.
Most
of the following
organizations are membership based, which means that they represent
those in
the musical industry that choose to be members of their organization. Some of the organizations
work on only
specific types of musical works while others cover all types. Most of the music
organizations represent all
those in the music industry, from songwriters to performers to
publishers. Others
specialize in representation of only
certain groups within the industry.
All
of the organizations below are open to music in all genres.
ASCAP - American Society of
Composers, Authors &
Publishers (www.ascap.com)
ASCAP is an
association made
up of composers, songwriters, lyricists and music publishers in the United States.
ASCAP also
represents music creator’s world wide, as well.
Members in ASCAP are actually responsible for
the creation and control
of the association.
The goal of
ASCAP is to
protect the rights of members through the licensing and distribution of
royalties on their copyrighted work.
ASCAP
aids in making the process of allowing permission for use and
requesting
permission of use for copyrighted work simple.
AFM - American Federation of
Musicians
(www.afm.org)
AFM is a music
organization that
represents professional musicians in various aspects of their career. Some of the things that
the AFM does for
musicians include negotiating agreements, protecting ownership of work,
securing benefits and lobbying.
The mission
of the AFM is to
help ensure that musicians can work freely, be compensated fairly, have
a voice
in how they are treated and have the ability to grow creatively. The AFM serves as a major
player in ensuring
that musicians are able to work without having to deal with improper
treatment
or losing out on anything they are rightly owed.
AIMP - Association of
Independent Music Publishers
(www.aimp.org)
AIMP is
focused on educating
and informing music publishers about industry trends and practices. AIMP serves as a forum where
music publishers
can discuss issues and problems. It
is
not limited to just publishers, though.
AIMP
also welcomes all people from the entertainment industry.
BMI - Broadcast Music Inc.
(www.bmi.com)
BMI is
responsible for
collecting license fees for songwriters, composers and publishers. BMI collects the fees and
then distributes
them to members as royalties.
BMI also
issues licenses. The
organization was
founded by radio executives to help ensure there was diversity and
choice in
the area of performing rights representation.
Members who join BMI can count on the
organization to help ensure they
get timely payment and proper payment for their work when it is used by
others.
HFA - The Harry Fox Agency
(www.harryfox.com)
HFA is the
leading
organization that handles licensing, collecting and the distribution of
royalties to music publishers. HFA
is part
of the National Music Publisher's Association and has the main mission
of
serving as a clearinghouse and information source for the licensing of
musical
copyrights. HFA
focuses on mechanical rights,
which are used for obtaining permission to perform music in live public
performances.
NMPA - National Music
Publishers Association
(www.nmpa.org)
The NMPA is
a publishing
trade association. This music
organization has
over 800 members and works to help protect, promote and take forward
the
interests of those who create music.
The
NMPA is a major voice for music publishers of all sizes and works to
help
ensure property rights are protected on all fronts.
The NMPA is very active in negotiations that
help to shape the current and future face of the music industry.
SESAC -
(www.sesac.com)
SESAC is a
performing rights
organization that works for both songwriters and publishers to help
ensure they
receive payment for the use of their work when publicly performed. SESAC is located in Nashville on Music Row.
Offices are also located in New York, London, Los Angeles, Atlanta
and Miami.
U.S. Copyright
Office
(www.copyright.gov)
The U.S.
Copyright Office is
a government agency that ensures protection for creative works. This includes music, among
other creative pieces. A
copyright is basically ownership of a
creative piece of work so that others may not use it without the
owner's
permission or without properly compensating the owner.
Copyrighting is very important in the music
industry so those that create music professionally can get payment for
the work
they produce and offers protection so others cannot use the work as
their own.
Having
representation and
support of music organizations like those above is important within the
music
industry. Music is
a creative art. There
is no tangible product that can be
protected. Anyone
can use someone else's
work and attempt to claim it as their own.
This is why these music organizations exist.
They help to ensure that those who do create
these works of art have
some protection so nobody can take what they have created and call it
their
own. Without
organizations like these
protecting the music industry there would not likely be much of a
profit and
many artists, producers and songwriters would change professions simply
because
they would be unable to make a living from doing it.
