Getting Started

How Do I Get Paid?

As a composer, when someone performs your music, you need to get paid. How does that happen? You will need to join a composers’ performing rights (or licensing) organization. This association will look after your interests by keeping track of the different types of usages of your music: live performance, broadcasts (radio, television, and cable), webcasts, etc., and will keep strict records of the compensation owed to you for your creative intellectual property (your music). There are three major performing rights organizations in the US: ASCAP (www.ascap.com), BMI (www.bmi.com), and SESAC (www.sesac.com).

Composers can also get paid for their music via a commission. A commission is an agreement whereby a composer is asked to write a new work for a specific organization or individual, and upon delivery of the score for rehearsals and performance, the composer receives a previously agreed-to sum of money (the commission fee). Meet the Composer (MTC) (www.meetthecomposer.org) is the go-to-guide for commissioning information. MTC fosters increased opportunities for composers through their wide-ranging programs of commissions, residencies, and educational and audience outreach. For more detailed information on the commissioning process and fees, see Commissioning Music: A Basic Guide, available at www.meetthecomposer.org/resources.htm. Further information on MTC’s commissioning and residency programs can be found at www.meeththecomposer.org/programs.htm.

For jazz composers, an important commissioning organization to know about is International Association for Jazz Education (www.iaje.org).

NewMusicBox Suggested Reading:

Commissioning Agreements (or How To Get In Touch With Your Inner Lawyer)
by Edward Ficklin
Published: 8/30/2005