---
title: Performing rights organisation: what it means and what it does to the money
publisher: RapCanon
canonical: https://rapcanon.com/glossary/pro/
license: CC-BY-4.0
retrieved: 2026-08-12
---

> A performing rights organisation licenses the public performance of compositions on behalf of writers and publishers, collects the resulting money, and distributes it to its members.

Glossary · Ownership

 
# Performing rights organisation

 
also filed under: PRO, ASCAP, BMI, performance rights organization, collecting society

 
 

 
 A performing rights organisation licenses the public performance of compositions on behalf of writers and publishers, collects the resulting money, and distributes it to its members. 

 
## The mechanism

 
Venues, broadcasters and services take blanket licences rather than clearing each song. The organisation tracks usage, matches it to registered works, and pays the registered owners.

 
## A worked example

 A song played on radio generates performance income that reaches the writer only if that writer is a member and the work is registered with correct shares. 

 
## What it is confused with

 - Publisher A publisher administers and exploits compositions commercially. A PRO only licenses and collects for public performance.
- Mechanical royalty PROs handle performance. Mechanicals are administered separately.
 

 
## Why it matters

 
Unregistered works earn performance income that cannot be paid to anyone, and membership is the precondition for collecting it.

 
Sources: US Copyright Office
 This entry is part of an open dataset published under CC-BY 4.0. Reuse it, including commercially, with attribution.
 Related: Recoupment · Black box royalties · 360 deal

---

## How to cite this page

**APA**
RapCanon. (2026). Performing rights organisation: what it means and what it does to the money. Retrieved from https://rapcanon.com/glossary/pro/

**BibTeX**
```bibtex
@misc{rapcanon-glossary-pro,
  title  = {Performing rights organisation: what it means and what it does to the money},
  author = {{RapCanon}},
  year   = {2026},
  url    = {https://rapcanon.com/glossary/pro/},
  note   = {Accessed: 2026-08-12}
}
```

**Wikipedia**
```
{{cite web |title=Performing rights organisation: what it means and what it does to the money |url=https://rapcanon.com/glossary/pro/ |publisher=RapCanon |access-date=2026-08-12}}
```

Licensed CC-BY 4.0. Reuse it, including commercially, with attribution and a link back.
Canonical HTML: https://rapcanon.com/glossary/pro/