ASCAP has joined the FastTrack international alliance of performing rights groups.
FastTrack operates a digital network of copyrights, with the aim of facilitating international licensing and royalty accounting over the Internet. The body was founded in 2000 by rights groups BMI (United States), GEMA (Germany), SACEM (France), SGAE (Spain) and SIAE (Italy).
“The members of FastTrack are pleased to welcome ASCAP and its significant international repertoire to the FastTrack alliance,” says BMI president/CEO Frances W. Preston, chair of the FastTrack Supervisory Board, in a statement. “ASCAP’s membership means that data on virtually all North American repertoire will be available to copyright societies worldwide via FastTrack’s global database. FastTrack’s database will grow to an estimated 20 million works with the addition of ASCAP’s repertoire.”
ASCAP CEO John LoFrumento commented: “ASCAP is pleased to add its repertory to the FastTrack system. ASCAP sees this online linkage of our domestic database with those of our foreign affiliates as yet another step in developing a fully integrated, worldwide performing rights environment.”
In addition to the founding members and ASCAP, FastTrack comprises the societies AKM (Austria), BUMA-STEMRA (Netherlands), MCPS-PRS (United Kingdom), SABAM (Belgium), SOCAN (Canada) and SUISA (Switzerland).
FastTrack claims that with the addition of repertoire from ASCAP, the digital database represents more than two-thirds of music works performed worldwide.
