American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP /ˈæskæp/) is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that protects its members' musical copyrights by monitoring public performances of their music, whether via a broadcast or live performance, and compensating them accordingly.

ASCAP collects licensing fees from users of music created by ASCAP members, then distributes them back to its members as royalties. In effect, the arrangement is the product of a compromise: when a song is played, the user does not have to pay the copyright holder directly, nor does the music creator have to bill a radio station for use of a song.

In 2012, ASCAP collected over US$941 million in licensing fees and distributed $828.7 million in royalties to its members, with an 11.6 percent operating expense ratio. As of July 2013, ASCAP membership included over 460,000 songwriters, composers, and music publishers.

In the United States, ASCAP competes with two other PROs — Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) and the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers (SESAC).

Curtiss King

Dwan Howard (born January 23, 1985), better known by his stage name Curtiss King is an American hip hop recording artist and record producer based out of the Inland Empire. Signed to independent label, Black Cloud Music, King is also known for his productions credits with artists such as Murs Noa James, Top Dawg Entertainment recording artist Ab-Soul, Glasses Malone, Mack 10 and more.

Biography

1985-2002: Early life and career beginnings

Curtiss King was born on January 23, 1985 in Bellflower, CA. King grew up as a shy child, particularly while attending Curtiss Middle school, he found ways to combat his insecurities by listening to music and getting lost in 90s sitcoms; giving him his stage name Curtiss King. From the beginning, with the help of a high school friend, YouTube, and a library card, Curtiss King set out to teach himself how to produce, engineer and write his own records, edit his own videos, design his own album covers, script his own websites, and build his brand from the ground up.

BMI

BMI may refer to:

Companies and organizations

The Smeezingtons

The Smeezingtons are a songwriting and record producing team, consisting of Bruno Mars (born October 8, 1985), Philip Lawrence (born July 17, 1980) and Ari Levine (born May 4, 1984). The Smeezingtons were established in Los Angeles, California. Their production and writing services have been increasingly in demand since 2009.

The Smeezingtons broke into the American recording industry in 2010, crafting songs for a diverse roster of talent, with the release of the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 single, "Nothin' On You", produced and co-written by the team and performed by rapper B.o.B and singer Bruno Mars. They also produced and co-wrote with singer Cee-Lo Green his single "Fuck You", which topped the UK singles chart and peaked at No.2 in Hot 100. Throughout their career they have been noted for their extensive work with Bruno Mars (one of the elements), writing and producing two consecutive Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 singles with the singer in 2010 and other two consecutive Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 singles in 2013.