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ASCAP hosted its annual meeting, as part of the day-long ASCAP Experience, on Thursday (Feb. 12) at the Skirball Center in Los Angeles. There, Elizabeth Matthews, CEO of ASCAP, revealed record-breaking revenue and royalty distributions for 2025. “We have a lot of good news to share,” said Matthews in her opening remarks. “I know you all are bombarded with a lot of bad news in the press. I know you’re stressed, but this should make you feel hopeful.”
Matthews then provided a breakdown of key financial figures for ASCAP’s 2025 calendar year. Those figures are listed below:
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- $1.945 billion in revenue (up $110 million, or 6%, from 2024)
- $1.759 billion in available royalty distributions (up $63 million, or 3.7%, from 2024)
- $1.471 billion in domestic revenue from U.S.-licensed performances (up $74 million, or 5.3%, year-over-year)
- $474 million in collections from foreign revenue (up $36 million, or 8.2%, from 2024)
Notably, 2025 marked the final year of ASCAP’s strategic growth plan, launched in 2015, to increase revenue and collections for its membership. Since then, ASCAP says it has generated a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.7% for total revenue and a CAGR of 7.3% for total distributions.
Another bright spot in her presentation: Matthews noted that ASCAP achieved the “highest rate ever paid from radio” this year due to an August 2025 settlement between the PRO and the Radio Music License Committee (RMLC) — an organization representing thousands of radio stations — that affirmed higher royalty rates for writers.
Matthews’ speech also noted ASCAP’s work on Capitol Hill to advocate for songwriters, especially in the wake of artificial intelligence and new challenges to copyright law.
“We also know it’s critically important for us to protect songwriters — and what we mean by that is because we know you, as songwriters and composers, are generally in the studio. You’re working on your craft of music. We don’t want you to have to worry about what’s going on with copyright. That’s on us. We got your back,” said Matthews.
The U.S. PRO claims it operates without debt and boasts the lowest overhead rate of any performing rights organization in the U.S. at 10%, meaning 90 cents of every dollar earned is paid back to rights holders. Matthews also pointed out that ASCAP is the only U.S. PRO that is not owned by private equity or outside investors. Instead, it appoints songwriter peers, like ASCAP president and chairman Paul Williams, to lead the organization with songwriters’ interests in mind.
In the last year, ASCAP has added several new hit-making members. They include EJAE, Rosé, The 1975, Lola Young, Myles Smith, Johnny Marr, Boy George, Michael Pollack, Tyler Johnson, Robin Carolan and Daniel Blumberg.
Later in the presentation, ASCAP executives awarded Adam Sandler the ASCAP Founders Award for his “genius” approach to comedy and songwriting and also revealed that the PRO is creating a new healthcare offering for members. This service will include discounted health and well-being benefits, including virtual appointments with clinicians for mental health, dermatology and 24/7 urgent care concerns. It was created in collaboration with MD Live by Evernorth, a virtual healthcare provider.
