Wow! Throw a new guy over here and everyone comes out of the woodwork. Wes, good job for getting these guys out of their hibernation! Good comments folks. Wesley is a guy on the BMI site I've been trying to help out. I participate there and a couple of other ones but usually don't get as involved as I do here. But always looking to help out when I can.
Wesley, I do a lot of things with humor order to demonstrate that mostly they are things not to worry about. People, trying to do this always seem to get caught up in the wrong things. They obsess about copyrights, and LEGALLY protecting themselves, only to find out that the song they have written is exactly the same as six or seven thousand other songs down to the exact same titles and lines, even some times note for note. What they have is not remotely copyrightable. And they worry about copyrighting before they get a recording done, only to find out you have to have a sound recording to APPLY FOR A COPYRIGHT!
BMI, ASCAP and SESAC (You have to include them now) are all collection agencies and don't even come into play unless you have works being commercially exploited. If a writer doesn't have anything that is being performed or played on radio, (BROADCAST MUSIC INCORPORATED, is what "BMI" stands for) they are not going to be collecting one dollar. And because streaming companies, like Spotify, and Pandora, have raised how many streams you have to have before they register anything, most people are never going to see dollar one from anything.
As far as being a member, you can join at any time, except for SESAC, who has to invite you. But again, I think people try to join them prematurely. When I joined ASCAP, I had a song about to be placed in a television movie and was slated to be a single on a major artist. That artist, Shelby Lynne, was starting to come out all over the US, do television performances and concert performances all over. I also performed on three National television shows. My co-writer was with ASCAP and ASCAP at that time were doing a series of "New comer showcases" that they were going to include me on. I was approached by two of their representatives and asked to sign with them.
That is when you sign with any organization. When there is a demand for what you do. Now other things have happened with friends of mine through BMI, and both of them still do some things, but the entire "setting up with publishers, setting up co-writes, helping people get on radio, or film, etc. is not something any of them ever have really done.
I am glad you asked that here and not on the BMI site. I don't want to slam anyone, and BMI at least has that site. But one of the reasons I am on every site I'm on is because SOMEONE ASKED ME TO BE. And with the BMI site, it was a very high placed member of BMI, actually a vice president. The reason his that they get so many calls for appointments and are able to do so little, they don't have time to help most people, particularly those who are just beginning all this. So they ask pros like myself to visit and help out when I can. I enjoy it so that is how it works.
But if you want my favorite story on that, here it is:
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