7 Mistakes Songwriters Make When Registering With A PRO

If you ask the people that work at the Performance Rights Organizations (PRO) like ASCAP, BMI or SESAC, they'll tell you that they see a number of common mistakes when a songwriter registers a song.

The problem with a mistake or omission during this process is that someone will end up not getting paid when royalty time comes around, so it really does pay to be as meticulous as possible. Here are the 7 common mistakes as outlined by Songtrust.

1. All performers of the song are not listed.

2. All the writers and publishers and their correct shares are not listed.

3. Any alternate titles (like those used for some music libraries) are not listed.

4. The writer/publisher account doesn't have the correct contact information.

5. All samples aren't licensed or cleared.

6. Songs have names that are not clear or too difficult to remember.

7. Songs that are performed live aren't listed with the proper PRO.

Filing the correct paperwork is a vital part of modern songwriting so you can get paid, so take it seriously and get it right. Make sure that you don't make one of these mistakes so that royalty check shows up when you expect it.

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Singer-Songwriter Meets A Suit

Here's another of those hilarious animations that illustrate an all-too-real situation in the music business, this time showing the interaction between a female singer-songwriter and a record label suit. For those of you new to the music business, you'll be shocked that everything you've heard can be true. For those of you who have been around for a while, it will be all too familiar.

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Today's Artist Is A Songwriter

Digital Music News offered an interesting article the other day regarding the fact that 83 percent of all mainstream songs were at least partially written by the artist or a member of the band. This came after searching the databases of ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC, and cross-referencing the top 100 songs on Big Champagne's Ultimate Chart.

While bad news for so-called "professional" songwriters, this is generally good news for the public, since an artist is truly an "artist" if he or she has some hand in the songs performed, and that tends to be the kind of artists that we really appreciate as fans. That being said, songwriting credit is dubious sometimes (like producer credits on a television show or movie), so unless you were actually in the room when the song was written, you'll never know for sure who exactly wrote what.

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Follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.