ASCAP Enterprises announces relaunch of administration services business as Songwize

22 March 2017 - Press release

ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, announces the relaunch of its administration services business as SONGWIZE.

Clients of SONGWIZE are rightsholders such as major and independent music publishers who direct license their public performance rights to digital services. SONGWIZE functions as their royalty administration arm, processing and matching performance files and paying royalties in accordance with ASCAP distribution policy and rules. ASCAP’S administration services business has been in operation since 2013.

The launch signals ASCAP’s commitment to offering the music industry efficient and cost-effective solutions for royalty processing and payment services, built on the organization’s trusted and secure performance rights administration platform.  In the last year, the organization has added substantial technological and analytical expertise to a team headed by Senior Vice President Administration Services, Lisa Selden. In 2016, SONGWIZE administered a 121% year-over-year increase in performances across digital service providers including Amazon, Apple, Google Play, Pandora and YouTube.

SONGWIZE leverages the scale and efficiency of ASCAP data; its award-winning enterprise performance management platform; its secure web-based performance rights application; and ASCAP’s proven track record of accurate data processing and on-time payments.  SONGWIZE services include performance matching, royalty and market share calculations, distributions, and standard business intelligence and data analytics.

“With the increase in streaming music consumption, the number of individual public performances that are occurring is increasing dramatically,” said ASCAP Chief Executive Officer Elizabeth Matthews.  “Songwize, built on our trusted matching system and transparent distribution rules, ensures that songwriters and publishers can depend on ASCAP for proper royalty processing and payment under a variety of licensing scenarios.”

“Songwize is better positioned than any other entity to provide royalty administration services to publishers and digital service providers,” said Lisa Selden. “By eliminating the duplicative costs required to build and maintain separate royalty databases, processing platforms and payment infrastructures, Songwize enables more funds to flow to music creators.”