Since no one wants to pay for music anymore, musicians need all the help we can get. I found a tiny ray of help when I stumbled across SESACs site.

SESAC is a performing rights organization. That means they help you out with things like touring costs or even the essentials of life - kind of like a labor union for musicians. I know you guys know how hard it can be to make a living doing what you love, so I strongly recommend you check them out. www.sesac.com/musicnation. They hold competitions periodically, money in the bank- so check it.

Do keep in mind, though, that SESAC is not governed by artists and songwriters, but by business people. Furthermore, they are for profit, unlike BMI and ASCAP, who are non-profit organizations who give back everything they collect in performance royalties to their artists, songwriters and publishers. And if you're comparing ASCAP and BMI, BMI is run by broadcasters--the people who tend to want to pay less for your music. ASCAP, however, is run by artists, songwriters, and publishers, all of whom stand to gain by charging higher performance royalties. Also, SESAC accounts for perhaps 5% of all performance royalty collections in the states and has very few overseas connections, whereas ASCAP and BMI have branches and affiliations with foreign PROs all over the world...

Just be careful. If you were an artist, would you want to sign to a PRO that takes a cut of all your profits, or would you sign to the PRO that by law is required to give all of their profits back to their signed artists, publishers, and songwriters?