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BMI for music producers and composers

BMI is a US performing rights organization. It collects performance royalties for songwriters, composers and publishers when their music is played in public. Here is what a library or stock composer needs to know, as of October 2026.

By , a composer with 300+ tracks on audio stock and 12 years in production. Checked on BMI's own pages on 26 October 2026.

Type
Rights society
How to join
Join as a memberWriters join free, publishers pay once from $175
AI-made music
With limitsPartly AI works with human authorship, not prompt-only

From my catalog. 319 tracks are registered with BMI, and 1 is waiting for an answer.

In short. BMI pays performance royalties to songwriters, composers and publishers. Joining as a writer is free. A publisher pays a one-time fee. You can join from outside the US if you are not in any other performing rights organization. BMI registers works that mix AI and human writing, but not works made only from prompts. Join before the music is performed. BMI does not pay for performances from before you joined.

How to join

  • Writers. "Joining BMI as a songwriter or composer is free. There are no fees or annual dues of any kind for songwriters and composers."
  • Publishers. A one-time fee: $175 for an individual publisher, $250 for a corporation or LLC, $500 for a partnership. BMI says the fee is "neither refundable nor deductible from future earnings".
  • The writer agreement runs two years at first, then renews by itself unless you cancel by its terms.
  • Timing. "You must affiliate with BMI prior to the time of the performance of your music in order to receive royalties."
  • Outside the US. Foreign residents send a W-8BEN tax form. Payoneer is offered for direct deposit from abroad.

If you keep your own publishing, see Registering library music with your PRO for how the writer's and publisher's shares work.

Exclusive or not

BMI's FAQ says that "as long as you are not a member of any other performing rights organization in the world, you are free to affiliate with BMI". The application asks whether you are or ever were a member of ASCAP, SESAC or a society abroad. See ASCAP and SESAC.

AI-generated music

On 28 October 2025 ASCAP, BMI and SOCAN announced the same AI policy. A partly AI-generated work, "one that combines elements of AI-generated musical content with elements of human authorship", can be registered. A work "entirely created using AI tools" cannot.

BMI's own page adds:

  • Prompt-only works are out. That holds "even if multiple prompts are used to refine the output".
  • Partly AI works must meet the US Copyright Office's minimum for human creativity. BMI pays them the same as other works.
  • Disclosure of AI use is "not required" but "recommended".
  • Removal. BMI may remove a work it finds to be prompt-only.

Codes, Content ID and royalties

Registering a work. In BMI Online Services, open Works Registration and click Add New Work. Use the IPI number tied to the name you want on the work. Your IPI number is not your BMI account number.

Cue sheets. For TV and film, the production company sends BMI a cue sheet. BMI says "Separate registrations need not be supplied to BMI for individual music cues (dramatic underscore) used in audio-visual programs." These cues are registered when BMI processes the cue sheet. Songs still need their own registration. Online Services has a Cue Sheets page where you see the cue sheets linked to your account.

More on codes: ISRC, ISWC and UPC.

How you are paid

  • Four distributions a year, in February, May, August and November.
  • Lag. A distribution usually covers performances from 6 to 8 months earlier.
  • Minimums. Direct deposit pays from $2 a quarter. Checks and international wires need $250, or $25 in the August distribution. Smaller balances wait in your account.

What to keep in your catalog

  • Registered or not, for each work, and the title it is registered under.
  • The IPI number you used on each work, if you write under more than one name.
  • Writer and publisher splits as you registered them.
  • Shows that used a track, from the cue sheets in your account. Then check the statements a few distributions later.
  • AI use for each work, in case BMI asks.

Sources