...meaning "American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers," just accepted my membership application! What does this mean in terms of composing? ASCAP is an organization that monitors the copyright, use, and royalties of an artist's music, making sure they get paid and legitimizing the work as professional. While there's a one time only fee of $35 for both the writing and publishing applications, you can't randomly decide to join. And this status is needed by many of the professional production companies and studios since it validates your abilities and allows them to go through easier legal channels.
In order to qualify for ASCAP, you need to have written a piece that was either "released" (or published) or "performed" professionally. Fortunately, the three albums I made and the commercial, documentary, and short film that won an award enabled me to do so, though I just used the short film on my application. I was on pins and needles for 2 weeks, hoping ASCAP would simply accept my application without me needing to run around, send emails, and make phone calls to the filmmaker to get proof. It's not that I don't have proof, it's just less hassle. So now I'm a writing member and will fill out an application to become a publisher so I can start licensing my music. I can also now submit my music to a variety of music libraries used by professionals to get more exposure and royalties that way.
It's another forward step in my growing career as a digital composer.
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