When joining, be aware of how APRA members vote for the board. For every 500 dollars that an artist or publisher collects the artist or publisher is given an extra vote. One-half of the board is made up of publishers and one-half of artists. Is this the kind of home you want for your tunes? You give APRA the rights to your materials when you join. With these rights APRA issues licenses for use of this content and then distributes this royalty back to its publisher and artist members according to the use of this content. APRA is going to collect a royalty with or without you. Ask the ABC what percentage of content performed through their networks is self-published and you'll discover that they don't even know. With APRA regulating the use of the content you contribute, with no quota in place for self-published Australian materials, not being with a recognized publisher, can you tell me why you should be with APRA? It’s possible that the self-published artist members in APRA could create their own organization and could opt out of APRA for something more suited to their situation. For me creative commons is the solution. Going to APRA without a publisher might confuse what you’re doing.

OPTapra