OUR ESSENTIAL MISSION: A Message from ASCAP President and Chairman of the Board Paul Williams

I am filled with the deepest of gratitude for our community. Your music is the light that fills our lives, reminding us of what connects us even in uncertain times. I’ve always believed that creating music is a higher calling. Supporting and protecting you, who answer that call, is ASCAP’s essential mission.

Last year, ASCAP distributed the highest amount of royalties in our entire history. But beyond delivering outstanding financial results, we continued to innovate and lead throughout 2025.

A few highlights included:

Distributing $1 million in emergency relief to our songwriter and composer members impacted by the devastating Los Angeles fires.

Securing a landmark settlement with the Radio Music License Committee, raising royalty rates for nearly 10,000 commercial terrestrial radio stations across the country.

And helping shape Federal policy around generative AI, making clear that technological progress must strengthen – not diminish – the rights and livelihoods of music creators.

I was inspired by the way you showed up in 2025 to protect the livelihoods of music creators across the country who depend on a strong, vibrant PRO system to make a living.

Last year, a coalition of music licensees who want to pay you LESS for the use of your music tried to upend the copyright licensing system that enables ASCAP and other performing rights organizations to pay music creators fairly and efficiently. In response to a letter from members of Congress, the US Copyright Office (USCO) issued a Notice of Inquiry, or NOI, seeking public comments.

Thousands of members joined with ASCAP in submitting comments to the Copyright Office to combat the misleading claims from music licensees looking to pay less for the use of your music. Thanks to your courage, the voices of music creators were heard in this process.

In their November 20th reply to Congress, the USCO affirmed the value of PROs, cautioned against further government regulation and specifically noted the remarkable response from ASCAP members.

The year 2026 will bring new challenges that force us to innovate and evolve. But ASCAP has thrived for 112 years because we have one bedrock principle upon which we continue to build: We always put creators first.

And we will always stand with you whenever new threats to your livelihood arise.

Thank you for being part of the ASCAP family.

HISTORIC REVENUES: A Message from ASCAP CEO Elizabeth Matthews

I am thrilled to announce that ASCAP delivered another year of record-breaking revenues and royalty distributions in 2025 to its music creator members. ASCAP delivered $1.945 billion in revenue in the 2025 calendar year, an increase of $110 million, or 6.0% over 2024 with $1.759 billion available for royalty distributions, up by $63 million, or 3.7%.

This is the highest amount of revenue and royalty distributions ever historically reported by ASCAP. ASCAP operates without debt and has the lowest overhead rate in the US at 10%. ASCAP is the only US PRO not owned by private equity or outside investors, meaning that ASCAP’s songwriter, composer and publisher members are the sole beneficiaries of ASCAP’s financial growth.

ASCAP delivers 90 cents of every dollar collected back to its members as royalties and does not charge a commission or take a profit. Instead, according to its unique governance and operating principles, after deducting expenses, ASCAP then distributes remaining dollars as royalties to its songwriter, composer and music publisher members.

In 2025, ASCAP increased the value and monetization of its members’ music with domestic revenue from US-licensed performances totaling $1.471 billion, an increase of 5.3%, or $74 million, year-over-year. Revenues from streaming audio, radio and general licensing drove the increase. Collections from foreign revenue for the exploitation of the public performances of the ASCAP repertory also increased to a total of $474 million, up by $36 million, or 8.2%.

The record high of $1.759 billion available for royalty distributions included $1.304 billion from US-licensed and administered performances, with $37 million distributed through Songwize, ASCAP’s royalty administration service provided to ASCAP members who directly license their works. Distributions from public performances outside the US, grew to $455 million, a 10.6% increase over last year.

In the last ten years of ASCAP’s strategic growth plan, 2015 – 2025, ASCAP has generated a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for total revenue of 6.7%; and for total distributions, a CAGR of 7.3%.

ASCAP represents and aggregates copyrights in cost-effective, efficient blanket licenses from the most iconic music creators in the world, including Beyoncé, Billy Joel, Cardi B, Chappell Roan, Charli XCX, Chris Stapleton, Dua Lipa, Garth Brooks, Jay-Z, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Katy Perry, Lil Baby, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Marc Anthony, Mariah Carey, Neil Young, Olivia Rodrigo, Paul McCartney, Philip Glass, Stevie Wonder and Usher among many others. 

ASCAP continued its unflagging advocacy for creators in the age of AI. ASCAP comments submitted to the US Copyright Office on generative AI were heavily quoted in the final USCO report in January 2025. In March 2025, ASCAP submitted official comments on the White House’s recent AI Action Plan, emphasizing that the US can win the AI race without abandoning the strong copyright laws that have fueled creativity and entrepreneurship across the country for decades.

ASCAP comments to a July Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing on unauthorized generative AI training reiterated that willfully using copyrighted works without permission to train AI models is not fair use, it is theft.

ASCAP remains a powerful advocate for creators facing an increasingly uncertain economy and rapidly shifting music landscape. While creators are under attack globally by disruptive technologies and opportunistic private businesses, ASCAP’s sole focus is to serve our members. We deliver on that mission EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.