"Artists need to be brought into this process," said Murphy, adding that both ASCAP and B.M.I. had repeatedly stiffed her. "If you're trying to serve someone, you go to them and ask them what they need, you don't shut them out. And that's what has happened in the past."

Murphy said she has little faith in the major performance-rights organizations to fairly compensate independent artists who might not be accurately represented on the surveys that ASCAP, B.M.I., and the other performance-rights organizations use to determine royalty payments.

Despite having the No. 1 record on a California college radio station for six months, Murphy said she never saw a dime because the station was too small to be included in ASCAP's sampling survey.

Crosland, the ASCAP executive, acknowledged that "it is possible that she got missed," referring to Murphy. He added that ASCAP is committed to improving its sampling model.

As evidence of the effort, he cited ASCAP Plus, a program that paid out about $3 million last year to writers whose work is performed substantially in media not surveyed by ASCAP.

Murphy, however, has moved beyond haggling over a few lost dollars. She's taking a stand on behalf of all independent musicians.

"Right now is when we need to establish a fair system," Murphy said. "If middlemen sit in a room and discuss how everything should be decided, the artist is inevitably left out of the equation."