Broadcast Music, Inc, better known as “BMI” and one of the two major music royalty collection agencies, has launched a new program, simply titled “BMI Live” to help collect performance royalties for performers at any stage in their career.
Artists who have an account with BMI and register their music with them will now be able to input their live performances online. Once logged in to your online account, performers will have to input the day, time, and location of the venue for the concert along with the setlist performed. BMI will collect royalties for the live performance and issue quarterly payments to the songwriters, performers, and publishers.
Since this is a new program, the obvious question is: How will performance royalty rates be calculated. Here is the answer from their website:
Rates per performance each quarter are determined by a combination of the number of performances reported during the payment period and the general licensing fees available for distribution for BMI Live performances. Since the number of BMI-licensed works, as well as the amount of the license fees collected by BMI, changes from quarter to quarter, the royalty rate for BMI Live works likewise will vary from quarter to quarter.
Additional answers to frequently asked questions can befound here. This is an exciting new program (even though I personally prefer ASCAP) and a program that is long overdue. I am intrigued to see how it works out, but I encourage all of my clients, especially those already registered with BMI, to take advantage of this new program.
If you are a band, solo musician, or songwriter seeking a music attorney to assist your career, please contact my office for a free consultation.