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Company Profile - American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers

1 Lincoln Plaza
New York, NY 10023

Phone: 212-621-6000
Fax: 212-874-8480
Website: www.ascap.com

Key Facts

The world's largest performance rights society.
ASCAP’s board of directors is made up solely of members.
Key Financial Facts
2001 revenue: $600 million
1-yr growth rate: 20 percent

Personnel Highlights
Number of employees: 600
1-yr. growth rate: 20 percent

Company Overview
Started in 1914 by Irving Berlin, John Philip Sousa, and Victor Herbert, as a way to ensure that they would be paid for future use of their music, the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (better known by its acronym, ASCAP) has since grown into the largest organization of its kind in the world. The non-profit group—run entirely by members—licenses and distributes royalties accrued from any public use—television, live performance, radio—of members’ work.

The 135,000-strong membership consists of a range of musical types including lyricists, composers, songwriters, and music publishers. The organization grew with the heightened popularity of radio in the 1920s and television in the 1950s, then cable TV in the 1980s. Its 1999 agreement with recording industry companies on compressed music (like MP3) signals the beginning of yet another source of licensing revenue.

Major Line of Business : Non-Profit & Government

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