ASCAP Becomes First PRO In The World To Report $1 Billion In Revenue

In it's 100th year of providing performance rights support and advocacy for music creators, ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, reported $1 billion in revenue for the calendar year 2014 – breaking global records. 

Revenue wasn't the only side of ASCAP that soared notably in 2014. Royalty payouts to songwriters, composers, and music publishers exceeded $883 million – a $32.3 million, 4% increase from 2013. ASCAP also doubled the number of musical performances captured, identified, and processed for payment from 250 billion in 2013 to 250 billion in 2014. ASCAP remains unincorporated, operating as a non-for-profit membership association, distributing all revenues after covering what is currently being recognized as the lowered operating overheads in the world, 12.6%.

ASCAP President Paul Williams commented: “Our songwriter and composer members depend on ASCAP to earn a living and it is our job to advocate and protect their rights across all media. We maintain a strong presence in Washington, D.C. to ensure they are fairly compensated for their creative work, which is the engine driving the entire industry. I am very gratified that we were able to deliver such strong financial results for the talented women and men who call ASCAP home. From our point of view, if we can ensure fair market rates for our members by working with the Department of Justice to modernize our outdated Consent Decree, then everyone wins – music creators, licensees and fans — because the value of collective licensing is that strong.”

“ASCAP had an incredibly successful 2014. We worked extremely hard and continually innovated in order to maximize the financial opportunities for our members in the face of an evolving and increasingly competitive global landscape. We implemented new revenue growth strategies and productivity improvement initiatives in order to deliver the best collective licensing value proposition at the lowest possible cost for all stakeholders,” said ASCAP CEO Elizabeth Matthews. “Our 2014 financial results clearly demonstrate that collective licensing is the most efficient licensing model available to creators and music licensees alike. The collective can accommodate big data growth of extreme scale at the lowest cost while also providing access to a broad, diverse and high quality repertory of music.”

View full story and further 2014 highlights on Ascap.com