(Free tool)
Which PRO should I join? Find the right society for your country
A performing rights organisation collects the money when your songs are played in public. Pick your country to see which society to join, what else to register, and the steps to do it.
Join the wrong society, or none, and performance royalties go unpaid
Every time your song is played on radio, in a shop, on TV or on a streaming service, a performance royalty is generated. It is paid to the writers through a performing rights organisation, a PRO, and only if they are a member and the song is registered.
The advice online is a mess. Articles argue over ASCAP and BMI as if everyone lived in the United States, fees quoted in older posts are out of date, and writers in other countries are left guessing which society covers them.
A clear answer for your country, with the next steps
Choose where you live. For most countries there is one society, and we name it, link to it and add what else you should register alongside it. For the United States there are two real choices, so we put ASCAP and BMI side by side on the points that are verifiable.
You also get an ordered list of steps, tailored by whether you own your recordings and whether you already have a publisher, so you finish knowing what to do on the day you join.
- Over twenty countries covered, plus a way to find yours
- ASCAP and BMI compared on facts, not opinion
- The mechanical and recording societies to join alongside
- Steps tailored to your situation
- Links to each society's own site
How to choose a performing rights society
- 1
Pick the country where you live.
- 2
Say whether you own your recordings and whether you already have a publisher.
- 3
Read the society we recommend, and for the US the ASCAP and BMI comparison.
- 4
Follow the steps: join, register your songs, then add the mechanical and recording societies.
- 5
Check the society's current fees on its own site before you pay.
Fees and rules change, so we link to the source
Society names and addresses were checked in November 2026. At that date, PRS charged a one-off joining fee for writers with a reduced rate for under-25s, while ASCAP and BMI were free for songwriters. Those details change, so always confirm on the society's own site.
We do not rank societies by how much they pay, because no one can promise that. For most writers, registering every song correctly matters far more than which society they pick.
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- which PRO should I join
- ASCAP vs BMI
- PRS vs ASCAP
- how to join a PRO
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