Diving into Strategic Services with ASCAP's DeDe Burns
Have you noticed ASCAP's member services are easier to reach lately? It's come with hard work in the PRO's Membership Department over the last few years, according to DeDe Burns, ASCAP's Senior Director of Strategic Services.
DeDe says back in 2011, Membership Services joined up with Strategic Services within ASCAP's Membership Department. Call centers were allocated between their Nashville, New York and LA offices so members could reach a live person from 9:00-5:00 on both coasts.
ASCAP's Member Access online portal has also improved response times for member's online questions, with inquiries directed straight to the appropriate department for resolution.
In April, ASCAP introduced its new membership form, boosting enrollment by six percent, with an average of 950 new members per week (for a total of 14,000 new members in the last six months).
DeDe said many new members are signing up as a result of the online music revolution, with YouTube being the most common topic with callers to their members hotline: 1-800-95-ASCAP.
"A lot more people are out there writing music and performing it publicly because of the numerous online platforms," says DeDe. "Not all of them are going to be successful, but people want to give it a shot. One of the first things they do is ask, 'What organizations should I join as a songwriter?' And ASCAP--the PROs--are a part of that first thought.”
She added that a great tip when calling in to ASCAP is to have your membership number handy. By punching in your ASCAP account number at the start of the call, you're bumped up to the top of the queue. Such adjustments to the calling system have helped decrease the average wait time from eight minutes (before 2011) to 30 seconds (note: wait times are typically a little longer around distribution days)