American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers

American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers
Trade name	ASCAP (1914–present)
Company type	Not-for-profit
Founded	February 13, 1914
Founders	Irving Berlin; Victor Herbert; Louis Hirsch; John Raymond Hubbell; Silvio Hein; Gustave Kerker; Glen MacDonough; George Maxwell; Jay Witmark; Nathan Burkan; Jean Schwartz
Headquarters	New York, New York, U.S.
Key people	Paul Williams (president); Elizabeth Matthews (CEO)
Website	www.ascap.com

The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) (/ˈæskæp/) is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadcasters, and digital streaming services (music stores).^[2]

ASCAP collects licensing fees from users of music created by ASCAP members, then distributes them back to its members as royalties. In effect, the arrangement is the product of a compromise: when a song is played, the user does not have to pay the copyright holder directly, nor does the music creator have to bill a radio station for use of a song.

In 2021, ASCAP collected over US$1.335 billion in revenue, distributed $1.254 billion in royalties to rights-holders, and maintained a registry of over 16 million works.^[3]^[4] ASCAP membership surpassed 900,000 and revenues exceeded $1.5 billion in 2022.^[5]

^ Aswad, Jem (February 25, 2020). "Paul Williams to Receive Johnny Mercer Award, Songwriters Hall of Fame's Highest Honor". Variety. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
^ "Statement of the Department of Justice on the Closing of the Antitrust Division's Review of the ASCAP and BMI Consent Decrees". Department of Justice: 2. August 4, 2016.
^ "ASCAP Delivers Record-Setting Revenues and Distributions to Songwriters, Composers and Publishers For 2021". www.ascap.com. March 3, 2022. Archived from the original on March 6, 2022. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
^ Aswad, Jem (March 1, 2022). "ASCAP Delivers Record Revenue of $1.3 Billion for 2021". Variety. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
^ Aswad, Jem (March 8, 2023). "ASCAP Posts Record $1.5 Billion in Revenue for 2022". Variety. Archived from the original on July 5, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2023.

[1] Aswad, Jem (February 25, 2020). "Paul Williams to Receive Johnny Mercer Award, Songwriters Hall of Fame's Highest Honor". Variety. Retrieved July 25, 2020.

[2] "Statement of the Department of Justice on the Closing of the Antitrust Division's Review of the ASCAP and BMI Consent Decrees". Department of Justice: 2. August 4, 2016.

[www.ascap.com_2021_fin_data-3] "ASCAP Delivers Record-Setting Revenues and Distributions to Songwriters, Composers and Publishers For 2021". www.ascap.com. March 3, 2022. Archived from the original on March 6, 2022. Retrieved March 23, 2022.

[Aswad_Aswad_2022-4] Aswad, Jem (March 1, 2022). "ASCAP Delivers Record Revenue of $1.3 Billion for 2021". Variety. Retrieved March 23, 2022.

[Aswad_Aswad_2023_e712-5] Aswad, Jem (March 8, 2023). "ASCAP Posts Record $1.5 Billion in Revenue for 2022". Variety. Archived from the original on July 5, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2023.

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