Apply for ACA Membership

Any U.S. citizen or permanent resident composer can apply for membership to ACA.

You must first be a member of BMI before applying to ACA.

ACA is a nonprofit organization that publishes and distributes the music of its members. This includes printing and shipping scores for order requests anywhere in the world. ACA promotes its catalog in a variety of ways, including online and through the sponsorship of live concerts of ACA works.

The application process and notifications can take 3 to 6 months from the time the composer's application materials are received at ACA.

The composer should submit two scores, recordings, a current complete list of works and resume to the ACA office (electronic files preferred).

Upon reviewing the materials the Admissions Committee will recommend to the Board of Governors to either accept or deny membership. At the following Board meeting or via online voting, the Board votes to accept or decline the recommendation of the admissions committee.

There are no stylistic requirements for the composer to be accepted in ACA other than he or she should be writing contemporary concert music at a professional level.


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ACA is a service organization that provides its composer members a unique variety of services, including promotion and publication, registration of works and long-term library archiving, while bringing fresh and vibrant American music to performing artists and the general public through its searchable online database and exciting concert series.

The American Composers Alliance is non-profit membership organization and a noncommercial, non-profit music publisher, serving professional American composers of concert music without claiming ownership of copyright.

ACA was founded in 1937 to protect the rights of marginalized composers of artistic music, including works by university professors, African-Americans, women, top-level non-professionals, and many others, and to promote the use and understanding of their music, it is the oldest national organization of its kind.

Aaron Copland was the original founder and first President of ACA. Since its beginning, it has published over 9,000 works under the imprints American Composers Edition, and Composers Facsimile Edition. ACA represents the music for living composers as well as composers' estates and trusts, including catalogs of works by Vladimir Ussachevsky, Dane Rudhyar, Karl and Vally Weigl, Miriam Gideon, Halsey Stevens, and many others.

ACA currently has over 100 active members who write music in a variety of diverse styles. We are proud to carry our mission into the 21st century, focusing on providing the opportunity for composers to receive professional performances of their works, and to become known to a wider public. Our services include printing, and distribution of scores for perusal, sale, and rental, a comprehensive on-line search engine with easy access to members' lists of works, including audio and score samples if desired, and biography profiles--all on the easily remembered website: www.composers.com.

The annual membership fee for 2011 is $100 and includes setup of your own composer page on www.composers.com.

If you would like more information, please contact us at info [at] composers [dot] com.


To start the application process, please send the following materials by mail or email.
If using Email to send, please use this address: acacomposers [at] gmail [dot] com
1. Cover Letter including your name, address, phone, fax and email, date and place of birth.
2. A Curriculum Vitae or Resume, or Bio.
3. A complete list of your works composed, with instrumentation and duration for each, with performance history, publication history, if applicable.
4. Scores and recordings of at least two compositions that you plan to register with ACA, if accepted to membership. Scores and recordings should be of the same composition. (PDF and MP3 file formats are preferred).
5. Two references or recommendations from the professional music community (professor, teacher, composer, performer, producer, presenter, etc.). These must be sent to ACA by email or postal mail, directly from the writers.

You will be notified of the Board's decision within 90-120 days, or sooner if at all possible. If you have further questions, please visit our website at www.composers.com or contact us here:

Phone: 212-925-0458 Fax: 212-925-6798 General Email: info [at] composers [dot] com

American Composers Alliance  802 W. 190th St. Suite 1B New York, NY 10040