T.I. appears in...
BMI Growth Outpaces U.S. Economy During Century’s First Decade
BMI’s revenues surged by more than 80 percent and royalty distributions increased by almost 90 percent during the first decade of the 21st century, while the overall U.S. economy remained stagnant during that same period, with The Washington Post reporting that gross domestic product increased by less than 20% and household net worth declined by 4 percent, Not all areas of the music industry have fared so well during the…
Lil Wayne Leads Grammy Field with Eight Nominations

Nominations for the 51st Annual Grammy Awards were announced by The Recording Academy on December 3, with superstar BMI songwriter/artist Lil Wayne topping the field with eight mentions. Other top BMI nominees included Kanye West, who earned six nods, while Alison Krauss and Radiohead received five each. The Eagles, Lupe Fiasco, and…
Avenged Sevenfold

Southern California’s five-piece pop/punk/metal act Avenged Sevenfold hit the ground running after winning Best New Artist at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards. The resulting self-titled album on Warner Bros. finds the group — singer M. Shadows, guitarists Zacky Vengeance and Synyster Gates, drummer The Reverend and bassist Johnny Christ — delving into genres and recording techniques they’d discovered on the road. “All those months on the…
Mariah Carey Leads Winners at Vibe Awards
BMI artist Mariah Carey led the way with the most wins at the 3rd Annual Vibe Awards, held November 12 at Sony Studios in Culver City, Calif. The ceremony is presented annually by urban music magazine Vibe. …
T.I.: More Than a Rap Star

Like many a rapper before him, Atlanta-bred emcee T.I. sprouted from the poverty, bleakness and decay all too common to people in urban communities. His rags-to-riches story, replete with the drug dealing and gun-toting themes prevalent in rap music, begins with the young artist garbling out his first raps at age eight, doing talent shows at 11 and, by 14, shopping demos. His songs,…
