ASCAP - THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF COMPOSERS, AUTHORS AND PUBLISHERS
ASCAP is a membership association of more than 380,000 U.S. composers, songwriters, lyricists, and music publishers of every kind of music. Through agreements with affiliated international societies, ASCAP also represents hundreds of thousands of music creators worldwide. ASCAP is the only U.S. performing rights organization created and controlled by composers, songwriters and music publishers, with a Board of Directors elected by and from the membership.
ASCAP protects the rights of its members by licensing and distributing royalties for the non-dramatic public performances of their copyrighted works. ASCAP's licensees encompass all who want to perform copyrighted music publicly. ASCAP makes giving and obtaining permission to perform music simple for both creators and users of music.
Who Is ASCAP?
ASCAP is its members — creative people who write the music and lyrics that enrich lives in every corner of the world.
ASCAP is home to the greatest names in American music, past and present — from Duke Ellington to
Dave Matthews, from George Gershwin to
StevieWonder, from Leonard Bernstein to
Beyoncé, from
Marc Anthony to
Alan Jackson, from Henry Mancini to
Howard Shore — as well as many thousands of writers in the earlier stages of their careers.
ASCAP represents every kind of music. ASCAP's repertory includes pop, rock, alternative, country, R&B, rap, hip-hop, Latin, film and television music, folk, roots and blues, jazz, gospel, Christian, new age, theater and cabaret, dance, electronic, symphonic, concert, as well as many others — the entire musical spectrum.
ASCAP members are individuals who make their living writing music. As a society of composers, songwriters, lyricists and music publishers, we know very well that there are many steps between creation and compensation; months, if not years, can pass between the creation of a song, its recording, its release, its performance, and the day when the revenues due to the writer actually arrive. A music creator is like a small business, and ASCAP exists to ensure that music creators are paid promptly when their works are performed publicly. Some of the many other ways in which ASCAP can help writers include workshops, showcases, our website and publications, and an exclusive, tailor-made benefits package that includes health and instrument insurance, a credit union, discounts on musical accessories, travel and much more. ASCAP is committed to nurturing music makers throughout their careers.
THE BIRTH OF ASCAP (1914)
On February 13, 1914, at the Hotel Claridge in New York City, a group of prominent, visionary music creators founded The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. For songwriters and composers, this monumental event would forever change music history.
ASCAP is a vital, leading-edge organization that serves more than 380,000 member-owners, including the greatest and newest names in American music. From hip hop to symphonies, rock to jazz, country to Latin, R&B to musical theater, gospel to electronic, ASCAP music defines our cultural landscape and connects people the world over.
ASCAP's primary purpose is to assure that music creators are fairly compensated for the public performance of their works, and that their rights are properly protected. Throughout its nearly 100-year history, ASCAP has stayed true to the democratic ideals and guiding principles set forth by its founding members. ASCAP is still 100% member-owned, governed by a Board of Directors elected by and from the membership every two years.
But ASCAP does more than represent its members–ASCAP is its members. As a member-owned organization, ASCAP is a community, a family, as well as the world's most powerful advocate for the rights of creators. In a history built on verses and choruses, it is the bridge that connects America's most beloved and distinguished songwriters and composers to the world.
THE ERA OF THE PLAYER PIANO (THE EARLY 1900S)
ASCAP's first office was a tiny room in New York's Fulton Theater Building. A kitchen table and broken-down chair served as office furniture. The Society's total payroll was $15 a week. Dues were $10 for writers and $50 for publishers. Today there are no annual dues.
Its earliest members included the era's most active songwriters – Irving Berlin, James Weldon Johnson, Jerome Kern and John Philip Sousa.
Early on, founding member Victor Herbert brought a lawsuit against Shanley's Restaurant for refusing to pay royalties. The fight took two years and went to the Supreme Court. ASCAP prevailed. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote the decision of the Court: "If music did not pay, it would be given up. Whether it pays or not, the purpose of employing it is profit and that is enough."
In 1919, ASCAP and the Performing Right Society of Great Britain signed the first reciprocal agreement for the representation of each other's members' works in their respective territories. Today, ASCAP has reciprocal agreements all over the world and licenses the U.S. performances of hundreds of thousands of international creators.
THE AGE OF RADIO (THE 1920S)
The early members were zealots when it came to building membership in the new Society. This zeal paid off when, in 1921, ASCAP was finally able to cover its operating costs and make its first distributions.
New members of the period included Hoagy Carmichael, Dorothy Fields, George and Ira Gershwin, Oscar Hammerstein II, W.C. Handy, Lorenz Hart, Jimmy McHugh, Richard Rodgers, Fred Rose and Harry Warren.
In the Twenties, the most revolutionary technological development of the age boomed into the hearts of American homes - Radio. Suddenly, previously disconnected communities and towns were instantly linked by a new medium, one that became the electronic hearth for millions of listeners. KFI Radio in Los Angeles was the first station to be licensed on February 1, 1923. It wasn't long before other stations followed.
Today, radio is one of ASCAP's most important sources of income. Some 11,000 local commercial radio stations and 3,400 non-commercial radio broadcasters are ASCAP licensees. And ASCAP music rules the airwaves with ASCAP members dominating the airplay charts.
THE RISE OF THE MOVIES (THE 1930S)
In hard times, people need entertainment. Jazz, the blues, country, stomp and swing burst onto the national scene. ASCAP members Louis Armstrong, Gene Autry, Jelly Roll Morton, Jimmie Rodgers, Fats Waller and Bob Wills and were early pioneers of this new musical terrain.
The movies soared to unparalleled popularity too. Harold Arlen, Frank Loesser, Johnny Mercer, Cole Porter and Jule Styne joined the ranks of ASCAP greats, along with Morton Gould, who went on to serve as President of ASCAP from 1986 to 1994, and William Grant Still, known as the "dean" of African-American composers.
As tensions in Europe mounted under Hitler's shadow, a new wave of expatriate composers migrated to Hollywood. Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Alfred Newman, Max Steiner and Franz Waxman reinvented the music of the movies with their lush, classically annotated scores.
And the tradition continued with ASCAP composers Elmer Berstein, Bill Conti, Ernest Gold, Maurice Jarre, Henry Mancini, Ennio Morriconi, Alex North, David Raksin and Miklos Rozsa. In recent years, ASCAP has wowed them at the Oscars with honors going to John Corigliano, Tan Dun, Elliot Goldenthal, James Horner, Randy Newman, Howard Shore and Hans Zimmer.
THE BIG BAND ERA (THE 1940S)
The world was at war, and the music of big bands came into full swing. Composer-arrangers like ASCAP members Count Basie, Benny Carter, Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Fletcher Henderson and Artie Shaw emerged as driving forces in shaping the sound of the era. On the concert stage, the works of Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland revealed a new American spirit. A diverse cast of creators joined ASCAP's ranks; Cab Calloway, Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Peggy Lee, Frederick Loewe, Alex North and Igor Stravinsky.
But while the public enjoyed ASCAP's growing repertoire, radio broadcasters grew reluctant to honor ASCAP license fees. In 1940, during negotiations with ASCAP over rates, the broadcasters formed their own competing organization as a ploy to drive their future costs for music down. But the public demanded ASCAP music and the broadcasters agreed to new rates.
With the war over, there was renewed optimism at home. New stars like
Frank Sinatra rose to fame, buoyed by the songs of longtime ASCAP Board member Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen. Classic ASCAP songs of the era live on in new recordings by a multitude of contemporary artists.
THE DAWN OF TELEVISION (THE 1950S)
If the Forties marked the end of America's innocence, then the Fifties were surely its adolescence. Music was everywhere, and the newest medium, television, was sweeping the country. One of the most popular early programs was Dragnet, whose composer Walter Schumann received the first Emmy Award presented for music. In the years to follow, ASCAP members have won the lion's share of
Emmys,
Grammys and
Oscars.
Bebop and cool jazz emanated from the clubs of New York City. ASCAP jazz legends Dizzy Gillespie, Jon Hendricks and Horace Silver pushed the art form in new directions. Tito Puente infused the music with Latin rhythms, popularizing a new genre of music in America. We welcomed other music legends to membership as well: Burt Bacharach, John Cage, Henry Mancini, Andre Previn, Ned Rorem, and present day ASCAP Board members Elmer Bernstein and Cy Coleman.
The melodies and lyrics of Broadway musicals, especially West Side Story by ASCAP luminaries Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein, marked a contemporary rebirth for a classic stage form.
The decade also marked the beginning of a new music craze: Rock 'n' Roll. ASCAP member Bill Haley wrote "Crazy Man, Crazy," the first Rock single to hit the Billboard charts; in 1954, Bill Haley and His Comets recorded "Rock Around the Clock," the first ever #1 Rock single, written by ASCAP members Max C. Freedman and Jimmy DeKnight.
The melodies and lyrics of Broadway musicals, especially
West Side Story by ASCAP luminaries Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein, marked a contemporary rebirth for a classic stage form.
The decade also marked the beginning of a new music craze: Rock 'n' Roll. ASCAP member Bill Haley wrote "Crazy Man, Crazy," the first Rock single to hit the Billboard charts; in 1954, Bill Haley and His Comets recorded "Rock Around the Clock," the first ever #1 Rock single, written by ASCAP members Max C. Freedman and Jimmy DeKnight.
THE RENAISSANCE OF RADIO (THE 1960S)
With transistor technology, music began to travel with its listeners, and FM radio grew by leaps and bounds. Among those to join ASCAP were the Band, Reverend Gary Davis, John Denver, the Doors, Philip Glass, the
Grateful Dead,
Jimi Hendrix, Quincy Jones, Janis Joplin, Steve Miller, Shulamit Ran, Bob Seger, Carly Simon and current ASCAP Board member Jimmy Webb.
Woodstock captured the essence of a generation, and three young ASCAP composers, Galt McDermott, James Rado and Jerome Ragni, turned Broadway on with
Hair. Oscar-winning composer Henry Mancini wrote the enduring classics, "Moon River" and "The Pink Panther Theme." And three present day ASCAP Board members won Academy Awards: Johnny Mandel for "The Shadow of Your Smile" with Paul Francis Webster; former ASCAP President Hal David for "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" with Burt Bacharach; and ASCAP President Marilyn Bergman, winning her first of three, for "The Windmills of Your Mind" with Alan Bergman and Michel Legrand.
In Nashville, country music was becoming a sophisticated populist art. Songwriters Jimmie Rodgers and Fred Rose were inducted in the Country Music Hall of Fame. The first country Grammy went to ASCAP writer Bobby Russell for "Little Green Apples." ASCAP's dominance in country music has continued, sweeping 73% of the recent CMA It was also the heyday of Motown, whose sound would take the world by storm. ASCAP's repertory boasts Motown classics by member-owners Ashford & Simpson,
Marvin Gaye, Berry Gordy, Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder. And from across the pond, the British invasion brought America
The Beatles and
The Rolling Stones.
THE NURTURING YEARS (THE 1970S)
It was the era of the white suit, shiny shoes, and disco. Music was everywhere. College radio, a growing venue for ASCAP music, became licensed. And the first cable license negotiation was successfully concluded with HBO, paving the way for others and foretelling the cable boom of the 80's.
The repertory expanded all over the musical map. New members included Ruben Bladés, Alf Clausen, Andrae Crouch, Earth, Wind & Fire, Jose Feliciano, John Fogerty, Amy Grant, Mark Isham, the Isley Brothers,
Kiss,
Bob Marley, Bonnie Raitt, The Ramones, Patti Smith,
Bruce Springsteen, Rod Stewart and
Neil Young.
For ASCAP, the Seventies marked a new chapter in our legacy of nurturing composers and songwriters. In 1975, the ASCAP Foundation was incorporated when Jack Norworth, writer of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," left a generous bequest with instructions to create a program of support for young composers. Today a wide range of ASCAP programs educate, connect and reward songwriters and composers across a complete spectrum of musical styles, nurturing their talent and dreams on a daily basis, and ensuring that the music of the 21st century remains as rich as that of the preceding decades.
THE GROWTH OF CABLE (THE 1980S)
Cable television, notably MTV, boomed in the Eighties, and ASCAP signed lucrative deals with the new networks. Musicians devoted themselves in unprecedented numbers to social concerns. To benefit victims of famine in Africa, ASCAP member Lionel Richie co-wrote "We Are the World" with
Michael Jackson, with ASCAP member Quincy Jones producing. On Broadway, Marvin Hamlisch's
A Chorus Line became the longest-running show in history.
Further uptown, a musical and cultural phenomenon erupted from the streets of the South Bronx, where rap music was born. New to ASCAP, LL Cool J "couldn't live without his radio" and the Beastie Boys "fought for the right to party." ASCAP members remain the dominant creative force in rap and hip hop.
ASCAP continued to welcome members from all genres of music –
Aerosmith,
Garth Brooks,
Johnny Cash, James Horner,
Alan Jackson, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis,
Madonna, Wynton Marsalis,
Reba McEntire,
Metallica, Ednita Nazario, Randy Newman, Jorge Luis Piloto, Prince, Michael W. Smith and Melinda Wagner.
The 80's marked the end of one of ASCAP's longest legal battles, a challenge to the blanket license. The CBS lawsuit had been in the courts for eleven years. As with virtually every legal.
THE INTERNET EXPLOSION (THE 1990S)
The Nineties ushered in unprecedented technological growth. ASCAP continued to demonstrate its leadership with ACE, the first interactive online song database, and EZ-Seeker, software for tracking Internet performances. The ASCAP Member Card was introduced. Among the benefits offered: the ASCAP MasterCard, the Member Investment program and Music Pro, insurance designed for the music professional.
Along with new technology came new music. Hip hop grew ever more popular and Seattle bands
Pearl Jam and Soundgarden led the pack in the rock revolution of the 90's. Member artists swept all 15 MTV Awards in 1998.
The 90's saw
50 Cent, Beck,
Mary J. Blige, Deana Carter,
Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, Missy Elliott, the Fugees, Juan Gabriel, James Newton Howard,
Enrique Iglesias,
Jay-Z,
Jewel,
Billy Joel,
Beyonce Knowles,
Dave Matthews, Joni Mitchell, Alanis Morissette,
Nelly, Alan Silvestri,
James Taylor, Timbaland, Hans Zimmer, John Zorn and ZZ Top become member-owners.
Latin Music ascended into the mainstream and ASCAP launched its Latin Membership division.
Marc Anthony, Johnny Pacheco, Arturo Sandoval, Joan Sebastian and Olga Tañon are ASCAP writer/artists known to music lovers worldwide. Today's chart-topping Latin songwriters, including Omar Alfanno, Roberto Livi and Rudy Perez, are all ASCAP member-owners.
THE ASCAP MILLENNIUM (2000 AND BEYOND)
As we prepared to exit one century and enter another, Congress passed the "Digital Millennium" Copyright Bill to bring the U.S. into line with World Intellectual Property Organization treaties and the "Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension" Law extended the length of copyright on all works copyrighted on and after January 1, 1923. ASCAP strongly supported this legislation and was highly instrumental in its passage.
The music creators that joined ASCAP in the 2000s reflected the amazing breadth and continued globalization of the ASCAP repertory. From
Jay-Z to Yo-Yo Ma,
Kenny Chesney to
Katy Perry, Marco Antonio Solís to The Killers and Michael Giacchino to M.I.A., ASCAP members were at the forefront of their genres in the new millennium, and even helped to blaze a few new ones.
In 2006, ASCAP founded the ASCAP "I Create Music" EXPO, an annual three-day conference in Los Angeles wholly dedicated to educating and inspiring songwriters, composers and producers. The EXPO attracts thousands of music creators each year. They come to connect with other music makers, and to learn from the EXPO's dozens of panels, workshops, master sessions and interviews. The EXPO always features ASCAP's most high-profile music creators as speakers, alongside a host of leading industry experts. Legends like
Tom Petty, Jackson Browne, Chaka Khan, Heart,
Bon Jovi, Randy Newman, Mary Chapin Carpenter, James Newton Howard, Stephen Schwartz, Ricky Skaggs and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis have each shared their stories in EXPO keynote interviews and master sessions. ASCAP is the only PRO to offer an event of this size.
2008 saw the launch of two important new documents: the position paper Music Copyright in the Digital Age and ASCAP's Bill of Rights for Songwriters and Composers. These two forceful documents have gone a long way towards educating people and strengthening our rights as creators, and have called crucial public and Congressional attention to the rights of all music creators. The Bill of Rights has been signed by tens of thousands of ASCAP members all across America.
Today, ASCAP remains a major force in technology, constantly leveraging its power for the benefit of our members. Each year, there are billions of performances of ASCAP music in the more than 100,000 broadcast and live venues we license. Our many innovations have set international standards for performance identification. Currently, Mediaguide, developed by ASCAP, is the world's most comprehensive and accurate tracking system. Mediaguide uses advanced "fingerprinting" technology to monitor performances.
From satellite transmissions to cell phone ring tones to the music we enjoy at our favorite restaurant, wherever there is the public use of music, ASCAP is there to monitor its use. This unparalleled vigilance has helped make ASCAP the largest performing rights organization in the world.
Because ASCAP is member-owned, we are deeply responsive and accessible to all of our members. ASCAP is a non-profit organization, and among American performing rights organizations, only ASCAP maintains the principles of open books. Only ASCAP elects its Board of Directors from the ranks of its members. And only ASCAP holds general membership meetings.
For nearly a century, from the days of Tin Pan Alley to the age of digital transmission, ASCAP has stayed grounded in the simple principles that were set forth back in the winter of 1914: that the composers and songwriters who create the music that inspires the hearts and souls of millions of listeners be paid for their work. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is continuing to create an enduring legacy, ensuring the limitless future of America's great music.
GENRES
Concert Music | Film & TV | Jazz | Latino | London | Musical Theatre | Nashville | Pop/Rock | Rhythm & Soul
