A massive moment for song licensing in the U.S. as a huge game-changing upgrade gives a shot of clarity to music copyright.

This week (September 29th) brought a landmark announcement: Songview is expanding to include data from all four major US PROs. That’s right, ASCAP and BMI are now integrating works from Global Music Rights (GMR) and SESAC into the platform.

For the first time ever, this expanded Songview platform will feature information for over 38 million musical works licensed by the four biggest performing rights organizations in the United States. This move instantly creates the industry’s most authoritative, single source for public performance copyright ownership and administration shares.

Back in December 2020, US Performing Rights Organizations (PROs) ASCAP and BMI teamed up to launch Songview, a public performance copyright database they hailed as a “groundbreaking collaboration”. The goal? A comprehensive, single-source data resource for everyone who licenses and uses music. This update is game-changing.

What’s actually changing?

Over the next few months, GMR and SESAC data will start rolling in. This will kick off with the addition of all 100%-owned works they represent.

The update will also tackle one of the most-requested features: publisher names. For works split between GMR/SESAC and ASCAP/BMI, Songview will now include the publisher name. While the exact ownership percentages for those split works are part of a “future plan,” getting the publisher info is a massive step for licensees looking for a clear path to licensing.

How does the songview database work?

The Songview engine, built by experts from ASCAP and BMI, is all about reconciliation. It takes complex song ownership data, processes it based on agreed-upon rules, and pushes the clean, reconciled information back to the public, searchable databases on the ASCAP and BMI websites.

The information you can find is crucial for any independent artist or label:

  • Songwriters and their affiliations.
  • Publisher data.
  • Performers.
  • Alternate song titles.
  • Industry-standard codes like ISWC and IPI.

Reconciled songs get a satisfying green checkmark, confirming that both PROs agree on the information—ultimate data transparency! This massive resource is completely free to the public.

The music industry reacts

This collaborative effort has been met with praise from all four organizations and even from Congress, which has long pushed for greater music licensing transparency.

ASCAP CEO, Elizabeth Matthews, spoke on the importance of the collaboration: “We are thrilled to collaborate with BMI, GMR and SESAC as we innovate to provide more transparency to licensees into musical ownership data for the combined repertories of the most performed music in the world.”

BMI President & CEO, Mike O’Neill, echoed that sentiment, focusing on the platform’s ultimate purpose: “It was always our intention to ensure Songview would be the single most comprehensive source of copyright information for the industry, which is why the addition of GMR and SESAC data is so important.”

This major expansion simplifies life for everyone involved in music, making it easier than ever to figure out who owns what and ensuring creators get paid.