The Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (COMPASS) is an organisation created to protect and promote the copyright interests of composers, authors* (and their heir) and publishers of musical works and their related lyrics. COMPASS is a non-profit public company which administers the public performance, broadcast, diffusion and reproduction rights in music and musical associated literary works on behalf of its members. COMPASS deals specifically with music copyright and the usage of musical works.

The society was formed in 1987 in conjunction with the enactment of the Copyright Act of Singapore to answer the call of composers, lyricists and publishers in need of copyright protection. The purpose was to provide them with a means of compensation for usage of their creative material by other parties. This was accomplished by setting up a registry of musical works for composers and lyricists whereby their works would be protected by the society.

In addition, the society has established a licensing department to ensure that members are duly compensated, in the form of royalties, for use of their material. By enforcement, the members would also be protected from any unauthorised usage of their materials and be subjected to due rewards. In addition to the control and ownership of music written and published locally, COMPASS has entered into reciprocal agreements with other affiliated societies worldwide, including

• ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers)
• BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.)
• CASH (Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong)

among others. This means that COMPASS administers the works of composers, lyricists and publishers worldwide, representing almost all copyright musical works in the world.

Note that members are required to register all their works with COMPASS, enabling us to have complete information of the works, thus facilitating royalty distribution. It does not constitute ‘copyrighting’ the song. See F.A.Q on copyright registration.

* “Authors,” in this case, refers to lyricists, specifically, people who put words to music

COMPASS is a member of: