A PRO, or performing rights organisation, also known as a collecting society or CMO, collects performance royalties on the songs you write. Here's what it covers, what it doesn't and how to decide if you need to join.

First of all, if you write or have written songs, and there’s a good chance anyone is going to play them, then the short answer is yes you need to join. There isn’t really an alternative route to collect these royalties on your own, and joining one is usually not expensive, and it should start paying for itself pretty quickly.

The PRO issues a blanket licence, meaning every time your song is played on the radio, in a gym, in a bar or restaurant, by a DJ, or on a DSP (but only for the ‘song’, not mechanical or master royalties - see more here), the PRO collects on your behalf. Once they have collected the money from the people who played a song in public, they then pay out to the writers (or whoever owns the copyright for the song).

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Part 1 - What a PRO collects and who gets paid

As we’ve discussed, the PRO or CMO collects performance royalties only - in other words on radio and TV, live performance, public spaces such as shops, bars, gyms, hotels and hairdressers, and the performance element of a stream. A PRO doesn’t collect on the recording, or ‘master’. To receive royalties for the master, you’ll need to look into an organisation like PPL in the UK, or SoundExchange in the US.

It then pays the writer’s share directly to the songwriter, and the publisher’s share to the publisher. It’s important to note; if you have no publisher, then you should register as both writer and publisher to collect both halves. This is easy to miss for self-releasing artists!

In the UK—where Creds is based—PRS covers performance and MCPS covers mechanical, and they operate together under PRS for Music. In the US they are entirely separate organisations, and PROs there don't collect mechanicals, while in many other territories one society covers both.

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Part 2 - choosing one, and the one-PRO rule

When you register with a society, you get your IPI number and how your songs get their ISWC. Confused? Check out our post on exactly what these terms mean.

With your IPI number issued, certain rules come into effect. The first, and most important, is that you can only belong to one society. The reason being, registering the same song with two societies means both will attempt to claim it. This creates a dispute, and you don’t get paid until it’s resolved.

You join a single PRO, and it collects worldwide on your behalf. Societies have reciprocal agreements with each other, so your home society (e.g. PRS in the UK) collects your foreign income and passes it on. This is why joining a second one is not just unnecessary but actually prohibited. What it does not always cover is your mechanical royalties, and it never covers anything on the recording side. Those are separate relationships.

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Part 3 - The main PROs/CMOs by Territory

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Part 4 - Expensive mistakes to avoid

As we’ve seen, it’s important that you register as both writer and publisher if you are an independent artist self-releasing your music, as the publishing share is half of every performance royalty your songs earn. You will not receive the publishing royalty by default! Registering as a publisher is straightforward. It doesn’t mean starting a company or anything.

The other big potential pitfall is joining a society, but not actually registering the specific individual songs. Membership in isolation is not enough for you to be able to collect royalties on your songs. The natural next step is to search your own name in your society’s public repertoire database. If your songs are not there, they are not earning.

The primary takeaway is that a PRO/CMO society can only pay out against what it knows about. You could be losing out on income tied to royalties you own. With Creds, the rights in a track are recorded once, by the people who hold them, and you can start earning.