A new on-line membership application implemented last fall by the American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) may benefit musical theatre writers who are interested in licensing the performance right for their works outside the theatre.

The songwriter society licenses music for performances on radio, television and elsewhere. By making it's membership application available on-line, ASCAP says, musical theatre and other writers are able to accomplish an important administrative step with "less paperwork, a quicker turnaround in processing and greater accuracy with first-time applications."

An ASCAP spokesperson told Playbill On-Line that while the number of applications has doubled due to the successful implementation of the on line application process, exact numbers could not be released.

In a paper statement, CEO John LoFrumento said that ASCAP's other on line services -- available to ASCAP members, including musical theatre writers -- include the ASCAP Clearance Express, the ASCAP online author/title database; the ASCAP web site; RateCalc, ASCAP's interactive license fee calculator for Internet customers; EZQ, ASCAP's cue sheet software; and EZ-Eagle, the software developed by ASCAP with Cyveillance for tracking, prioritizing and licensing online music users.

Claiming 90,000 members, ASCAP represents music of all styles and regularly conducts programs aimed at supporting composers and lyricists. One such program is the ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop run by Michael A. Kerker. -- By Murdoch McBride