Performance Rights Organisation (PRO)

What Is a PRO?

A performance rights organisation (PRO) is a body that collects royalties on behalf of songwriters, composers and music publishers whenever their works are performed publicly, including on radio, television, streaming services and in venues. Major PROs include PRS for Music in the UK, and ASCAP and BMI in the United States.

Performance Rights Organisation (PRO) in Practice

PROs solve an impossible logistics problem: no songwriter can track every radio spin, TV airing and venue playlist on Earth. Instead, PROs issue blanket licences to broadcasters, venues and businesses, gather usage data and distribute the money to writers and publishers as performance royalties. ASCAP, founded in 1914 with Irving Berlin and John Philip Sousa among its founding members, established the model in the United States, where BMI later became its main counterpart; PRS for Music performs the role in the UK, with equivalents in nearly every country. For brands the practical point is the cue sheet: when an advert airs, the music on it generates performance royalties, and in many territories a composer’s writer’s share flows through a PRO even after a buyout.

Famous Example

ASCAP, founded in 1914 with Irving Berlin and John Philip Sousa among its founding members