American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
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).
| 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 |
| Headquarters | New York, New York, U.S. |
Key people | Paul Williams (president) Elizabeth Matthews (CEO) |
| Website | www |
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. ASCAP membership surpassed 900,000 and revenues exceeded $1.5 billion in 2022.