One of the biggest criticisms of the two performing rights organizations is that it’s nearly impossible to know exactly who wrote, co-wrote, or has ownership of specific works. This joint announcement is another step toward more transparency, which both ASCAP and BMI have declared is one of their goals.
While it’s not expected to launch for a year, the two PROs have teamed up to create a single database of musical works from their combined repertories that will deliver an authoritative view of ownership shares in the vast majority of music licensed in the United States.
The joint announcement was made on Wednesday by ASCAP CEO Elizabeth Matthews and BMI CEO Mike O’Neill. The joint database will roll out in phases with Phase One expected to launch by the end of 2018, and include the majority of ASCAP and BMI registered songs.
A team of copyright, technical, and data experts from BMI and ASCAP began working on the project over a year ago in anticipation of the demand from licensees and the industry for more clarity around ownership shares. The database, which will be publicly available initially via ASCAP’s and BMI’s websites, will feature aggregated information from BMI’s and ASCAP’s repertories and will indicate where other performing rights organizations may have an interest in a musical work. The joint database will serve as a foundation that can evolve to include a broader range of music information across the entire industry.
Matthews said, “ASCAP and BMI are proactively and voluntarily moving the entire industry a step forward to more accurate, reliable, and user-friendly data. We believe in a free market with more industry cooperation and alignment on data issues. Together, ASCAP and BMI have the most expertise in building and managing complex copyright ownership databases. With our combined experience, we are best positioned to make faster headway in creating a robust, cost-effective market solution to meet the needs of the licensing marketplace.”
O’Neill added, “This is an important solution for the marketplace created by the experts who know their data best. We have always advocated for data transparency and supported the need for a user-friendly and comprehensive solution that would benefit music users and music creators alike. While BMI and ASCAP remain fierce competitors in all other regards, we recognize that our combined expertise allows us to create the best solution for our members and the marketplace. We’re excited by our momentum and the promise of what this database can become in the future.”
