BMI defines a classical work as: an original work written for live classical performance by a classical performer or ensemble and being performed under a classical license. Arrangements are not eligible for the Live Classical distribution at BMI because they are not original works. However, they are eligible for the radio distribution. Therefore, please register all arrangements as non-classical by selecting “all other genres” at the beginning of the work registration process. If the arrangement is found on our statistical sample of radio broadcasts, then it will be included in the quarterly radio distribution.

Please send a completed Premiere Report Form, along with a copy of the concert program, to BMI within 30 days following the performance. BMI is able to license the first performance of a work in the United States (U.S. premiere) only if we receive written authorization from you or your publisher. This serves to protect your right to control the circumstances of first performance. For more information, please review our complete Guidelines for Reporting Classical Performances to BMI.

No. BMI Live is intended for non-classical performances. Quarterly royalty payments from BMI Live are completely separate from the annual Live Classical royalty distribution, and BMI Live does not make payments for performances that occurred under a classical license. For more information, please review the Guidelines for Reporting Classical Performances to BMI.

All work titles appear in your catalog without punctuation for the purpose of standardizing titles. This is done automatically during the registration process.

Yes, we still accept both the PDF and paper classical work registration forms. They should be sent to us either via email to classicalworkregistrations@bmi.com or by regular mail to the NY Classical office.

The classical department adds your last name to the beginning of classical works so that they are more easily searchable in our database. Your works also appear without your last name to ensure that they are easily matched to performances from other non-classical sources.

Generally, individual movements should not be registered as separate works; BMI has a system of in-house registrations to accommodate occasional performances of excerpts or movements from larger works. However, if a movement is being performed frequently and exists as an independent work, the classical department will request a registration from you.

Please contact the classical department.

If your work is performed as a transcription by someone other than yourself, then you’d still be credited with the performance of the original version of the work. There is no need to update the registration unless you’ve created an official alternate instrumentation for one of the works that already appears in your catalog.

To add a movement to a work that already appears in your BMI catalog, please send an email to classical@bmi.com with the updated duration of the full work. Please do not register the new movement separately.

Text found on the internet without an easily attributable author is not necessarily in the public domain. Before you can register this work with BMI, you should contact the website’s administrator to determine the copyright holder. Written permission to use the text is required before you can register the work with BMI.