Shown in the New York office are BMI's Mark Barron and June Neira, Demo Contest winner daRome Bentley, and BMI's Benjamin Tischker

Bentley was chosen as the winner from over 1,000 songwriters and artists by a panel of prominent A&R executives. The young soul artist was then flown to New York City to record a three-song demo at the Demo Center's state-of-the-art recording studios, working with such A-list producers as two-time Grammy nominee Ernie Lake (Backstreet Boys, Faith Evans, Britney Spears, Cyndi Lauper) and Mike "G" Guerriero, who has produced several dance hits on the Billboard charts.

The Demo Contest was co-sponsored by BMI, music production company the Demo Center and electronic press kit producer Sonicbids.com.

A native of Oklahoma, daRome Bentley is quickly emerging as one of Atlanta's soul music scene-makers. He began singing in church, and later performed as an opening act for r&b hitmakers K-Ci & JoJo, Next and Joe. With influences such as Marvin Gaye and Kenny Lattimore, Bentley has also competed in songwriting competitions with the Georgia Music Industry Association (where he was a finalist) and the International Songwriting Competition. He has also performed as part of Atlanta's Atlantis Music Conference. The buzz on the talented urban artist continues to grow, with a much-rumored record deal on the near horizon.

Over 1,000 songwriters and artists entered the highly anticipated competition, which ran from January through early April 2006, with Bentley chosen as the winner by a panel of prominent music industry A&R executives. As the winner, Bentley will be flown to New York City to record a three-song demo Nov. 4-5 at the Demo Center's state-of-the-art recording studios. Bentley's demo will be produced by Ernie Lake, who was twice-nominated for a Grammy for his remixing and production work for artists like the Backstreet Boys, Faith Evans, Britney Spears and Cyndi Lauper, among others, and Mike "G" Guerriero, who has produced chart-topping hits on the Billboard dance charts.

The top prize also includes round-trip airfare for up to four people from anywhere in the continental U.S. and a three-night hotel stay. DiscMakers, the leading CD manufacturer for the independent musician, will also provide Bentley with 1,000 finished demo CDs.

A native of Oklahoma, daRome Bentley is quickly emerging as one of Atlanta's soul music scene-makers. He began singing in church, and later performed as an opening act for r&b hitmakers K-Ci & JoJo, Next and Joe. With influences such as Marvin Gaye and Kenny Lattimore, Bentley has also competed in songwriting competitions with the Georgia Music Industry Association (where he was a finalist) and the International Songwriting Competition. He has also performed as part of Atlanta's Atlantis Music Conference. The buzz on the talented urban artist continues to grow, with a much-rumored record deal on the near horizon.

The Demo Center is a full-service music production company that specializes in cutting-edge demos and artist development. The company works with all major labels, including J, Atlantic, Jive and Warner Bros., Billboard magazine, and artists such as Britney Spears, the Backstreet Boys, Usher, Jennifer Lopez, Whitney Houston, Pink, Jessica Simpson, and many others.

Sonicbids.com is at the forefront of creating electronic press kits (EPKs), and is becoming one of the fastest-growing music communities on the web, trusted by over 70,000 artists and over 6,000 festivals, music conferences and clubs from over 100 countries. It aspires to be the common "language" that people who make music and people who promote music use to connect and transact with one another.]]> 2006-10-26T05:00:00-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/234524 Artists, BT, Lauper, Cyndi, Tiesto, Musical Styles, Dance, Musicworld, Feature Billboard magazine is now offering a discount registration fee of $199 to BMI songwriters and composers for its 12th Annual Dance Music Summit, a savings of $200 off the full registration price. The conference will take place September 19-21 at the Union Square Ballroom in New York City.

The 2005 Billboard Dance Music Summit will feature daytime panels addressing the latest trends in dance and electronic music, and nighttime parties where you can network and enjoy all that New York City has to offer. Panel topics will include branding, new technology, business models, publishing, licensing, radio, nightclubs and promotions. And of course, there will be the highly-acclaimed Billboard Q&A with an industry superstar. Past Q&A participants have included BT, Paul Van Dyk, Cyndi Lauper and DJ Tiësto.

New to 2005 is the Best DJ contest. Three lucky attendees will win the chance to spin at Lotus nightclub on September 20. You must be a paid attendee to enter and your demo must be received by September 20. Details will be provided in your registration confirmation letter. Registration also includes a non-deductible 6-month subscription to Billboard magazine (a $155 value; for new subscribers only).

Click here to take advantage of this exclusive offer using promotional code bmi05.

One of the brightest up-and-coming stars in the pop music firmament, Sylvia Tosun is an independent singer/songwriter who is earning heaps of praise for her ambitious music and historic performances.

That's right — historic. Tosun recently returned from Beijing, China where she performed at the first ever concert at the Great Wall, entitled "Wall of Hope." Known for her multi-lingual skills, Tosun sang in Mandarin, as well as English, while sharing the stage with Alicia Keys and Cyndi Lauper. The Chinese performance is scheduled to air on ABC sometime this year.

Upon returning from China, Tosun received good news. The singer learned that she was one of this year's recipients of the Songwriter's Hall of Fame Abe Olman Scholarship Award for Excellence in Songwriting. The scholarship, presented each year at the kick-off event for the SHOF induction ceremony, honors five gifted young composers and lyricists from songwriter programs sponsored by BMI and other organizations.

The scholarship not only bodes well for Tosun's career, it puts her in good company. Last year's recipient was r&b wunderkind John Legend, whose debut CD has resulted in impressive sales and unanimously positive reviews.

If Tosun's independently produced new debut CD, Jump In , is any indication, she will soon join Legend at the top of the pop charts. Produced by Miklos Malek (Celine Dion, Jennifer Lopez, Anastacia) and mixed by Grammy Award winner Tom Lord-Alge (Avril Lavigne, Peter Gabriel, Faith Hill), Jump In lives up to its inviting title. Combining refreshing pop-rock sensibilities with fearlessly romantic lyrics, the CD poises Tosun as a vulnerable singer unafraid of baring her soul in a time of cynicism.

Tosun's message appears to have struck a chord. The New York Times describes the singer as "exciting and timeless." Billboard magazine says Tosun's songs are a "journey across an exotic world music palette… all her own and simply fascinating."

Siddhartha (founder, lead singer/songwriter of Goldspot) is quick to pay tribute to his early influences: “I grew up listening to whatever my parents had in their cassette decks - Mohd. Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Mukesh - these were great Indian playback singers from the 1940’s and 50’s. The melodies were brilliant. And then one day when I was 14, I figured out that if you flipped the switch on the stereo from ‘tape’ to ‘radio’ you could hear music with English words. That’s when I heard R.E.M.’s “Green,” and it was my first introduction to Western music.”

Goldspot thrives on Siddhartha’s creative chemistry with drummer and co-writer Ramy Antoun. “Sid would come to me with demos of the songs that he had recorded in his apartment, and we would finish them together.”

“We both have similar backgrounds,” notes Siddhartha, referring to his Indian upbringing and Ramy’s formative years in Egypt. “There’s a lot of connection on that level,” confirms Ramy.

Hence Goldspot’s relentless yet delicate melodic prowess, and what they term their “Bollywood” undertones within Western guitar-pop templates. “Indian music from the early 20th Century is very much a part of who I am and a very big part of how I write,” Siddhartha expands. “That music’s based completely in melody – you can barely hear the music, all you hear is the vocal melodies, which are so strong that you remember them. Our influences extend from Mohd. Rafi, to Roy Orbison, to the Smiths.”

Goldspot came to the attention of Russ Rieger, a long time friend of Ramy’s. As a former top executive at Maverick REeords and London Records, Rieger worked with a vast array of artists including Prodigy, Deftones, DJ Shadow, Meatpuppets and Portishead.  As a manager, Rieger worked with the Replacements, the Del Fuegos, Cyndi Lauper and Prong. When he started his own label, Union Records, Goldspot was an obvious choice for his roster.

Tally Of The Yes Men (a title inspired by Siddhartha’s time in a cubicle-confined office job) didn’t come easily, but for the best of reasons, says Siddhartha, who spent endless hours co-producing the disc with Ramy and veteran Beach Boys/Brian Setzer engineer Jeff Peters, “we took our time, because we wanted everything we put into the music to have a purpose.”

The results are worth the wait, as Tally Of The Yes Men is one of those rare records that’s has both instant appeal and listening longevity, accessible hooks and authentic artistry, all revolving around Siddhartha’s remarkable ear for melody and Ramy’s driving pulse. “Bollywood” flavors permeate the record: the xylophone post-chorus interludes of “Rewind”; the strings in the bridge of “The Guard”; and the subtlety and phrasing of Siddhartha’s vocals.

Opening track “Rewind” proved pivotal to the album’s timbre. “That song was a defining moment for the record,” Ramy explains, and it was “Rewind” that caught the ear of L.A.’s taste-shaping KCRW DJ Nic Harcourt, who put the track in regular rotation. Other stations soon followed suit and Goldspot’s live crowds swelled.

Seth McLain, who’d been second engineer on the album, joined the live line-up, as did Siddhartha’s friend Derek Horst, and Sergio Andrade, a friend of Ramy’s. On stage Goldspot breathe energy, warmth and connection into their tunes, while remaining remarkably faithful to Tally Of The Yes Men’s involved intricacies and signature nuances.

“Our goal is to play everywhere,” enthuses Siddhartha.  “When you spend a year and a half in the studio trying to create something, then you’re up on stage actually performing it, you can’t think of anything except how much you love the music ... I think the most natural form of how any of us exist is in the performance setting.”

A triumphant residency at Hollywood’s Hotel Cafe confirmed that Goldspot’s quality is prevailing. Yet Siddhartha’s un-fazed by the sudden sense of expectation:  “I don’t have any fears for the future, because this is the first time that I feel completely at ease and completely comforted by the fact that this is the most honest representation of who we are and our artistry.”

Simple as that.

Goldspot are featured in BMI’s Podcast #3.  See it hear first.

BMI's Charlie Feldman congratulates Abe Olman Scholarship winner Sylvia Tosun. Photo by Chuck Pulin

Named for one of the founding members of the National Academy of Popular Music/Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Abe Olman Scholarship awards $1,200 to each winner. The presentation was held June 7 in conjunction with the SHOF compilation CD release party at the Cutting Room in New York.

Tosun just returned from Beijing, China where she performed at the first ever concert at the Great Wall entitled "Wall of Hope" (scheduled to air this summer), sharing the stage with Alicia Keys and Cyndi Lauper. Her full-length album Jump In was released this May, and features producer Miklos Malek (Celine Dion, Jennifer Lopez, Anastacia), mixer Tom Lord-Alge (Avril Lavigne, Peter Gabriel, Blink 182) and co-writers Julie Flanders and Emil Adler (founders of the cult band October Project). Sylvia's powerful voice combined with the album's rock rhythms, pop melodies, poetic metaphors and mystical undertones have been favorably compared to Annie Lennox, Sting and Peter Gabriel. A track from Jump In has just been featured on the WB11's DVD series, "Dawson's Creek."

BMI has received commitments from some of its top songwriters and other music professionals that will make up the majority of the songwriting staff, including Cyndi Lauper, Dallas Austin, Harold Lilly, Butch Walker, Hugh Prestwood, Frank Myers, Russ Titelman, David Tickle, Shelley Peiken, Adam Gorgoni, Keith Olsen, Mark Levinsohn and Suzan Koc.

Instruction will be relevant to all genres of music from rock to urban to country to pop to Hawaiian. Each night will provide opportunities for students to perform their own music via open mike sessions. Nightly "guitar pulls" will also be staged where students can join in with the professional staff in playing music and creating new songs. Throughout the four-day event, selected students will be invited to make demo recordings with the assistance of the professional staff. Students who are not making the demo recordings will be invited to attend the sessions as an educational experience.

KMF Songwriting Competition
The Kauai Music Festival will also feature the KMF Songwriting Competition. Each attendee is allowed to submit one song. The finalists will perform in the songwriting competition concert on the second night of the Festival. The top five winners will receive prizes donated by Festival sponsors. The first place winner will receive a guaranteed spot in a BMI showcase in New York City, Los Angeles, or another BMI location. Other prizes include free memberships to TAXI, premium Tannoy speakers, and other home studio equipment. Additional prizes will be announced soon.]]> 2004-03-30T17:00:00-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/233704 Boyz II Men, Coltrane, John, Dilemma, Gamble, Kenneth, Huff, Leon, LaBelle, Patti, Lauper, Cyndi, Mayfield, Curtis, Roots, The, Wide Range, Wright, Jaguar, Dance, Jazz, R&B, Urban, Recording Academy Honors

Hero Award recipient McCoy Tyner (2nd left) is congratulated by BMI's Charlie Feldman, Samantha Cox and J.W. Johnson

Presenters for the evening included BMI songwriter/artists Jaguar Wright and Kenny Gamble, Def Jam President Kevin Liles, Electric Factory Concerts President Larry Magid and Late Night With David Letterman's Paul Shaffer. Tiffany Bacon of Power 99 hosted the event that featured Doc Gibbs and the Emeril Live Band as well as the Philadelphia Grammy All-Star High School Band.

BMI's Brooke Primont and Charlie Feldman, Hero Award recipients Walter "Bunny" Sigler and Joe Nicolo, BMI's Samantha Cox, Hero Award recipient Larry Gold, and BMI's J.W. Johnson, Wardell Malloy and Erica Tompkins. photos: Recording Academy

Grammy-nominated arranger and cellist Larry Gold is also the owner of the highly successful recording facility The Studio. A student of the Curtis Institute of Music, Gold quickly went on to become the cellist for MFSB, the house band for the Sound of Philadelphia, with whom he recorded tracks for The O'Jays, Billy Paul, The Spinners, Teddy Pendergrass, The Tramps, Patti LaBelle and others. Later, Gold turned his talents to composing for animated films, and earned an Oscar nomination for the film short It's So Nice To Have A Wolf Around The House. In 1996, he created The Studio, a state-of-the-art facility in downtown Philadelphia, which became a home for recording artists including the Roots, Erykah Badu, Common, Jill Scott, Musiq and many others in the burgeoning soul and R&B scene.

Grammy-nominated producer, engineer, studio owner and record label executive Joe Nicolo has had a successful, long-running career in Philadelphia. He and twin brother Phil formed Studio 4 together and over the past 25 years, the studio has become a local mecca for artists including Boyz II Men and DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince (both recorded early albums at Studio 4), Aerosmith, Dishwalla, the Dead Milkmen, the Hooters, the Rolling Stones, Urban Dance Squad and many others. Nicolo has produced and engineered a wide range of acts from Cypress Hill, Billy Joel, Foreigner and Cyndi Lauper to Taj Mahal, Schooly D and Grover Washington Jr. In the early '80s, Nicolo formed Ruffhouse Records with partner Chris Schwartz. The label would become home to cutting-edge hip-hop and rap acts such as Cypress Hill, Kris Kross, Tim Dog and the Fugees (as well as solo projects from Fugees artists Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean). Earlier this year, Nicolo joined forces with RKO Pictures and started a new label, RKO/Judgement, whose focus is movie soundtracks and new recording artists.

Singer, songwriter, producer and instrumentalist Walter "Bunny" Sigler is a Philadelphia legend. His first album came out on Cameo Parkway, preceding Sigler's years with Kenneth Gamble & Leon Huff as a songwriter and artist. He has written or co-written songs for Phil Hurtt, The O' Jays, Patti LaBelle, Jay-Z, the Dells and Mystique. His production credits include work with Curtis Mayfield, The O' Jays, Lou Rawls and Patti LaBelle. Recently, Sigler's work has been sampled in the Grammy-winning Nelly track "Dilemma" and his songwriting has appeared on R&B artist Jaguar Wright's recent debut album, Denials Delusions and Decisions.

Philadelphia native McCoy Tyner is often cited as the most influential jazz pianist of his time. Over the span of his 50-year career, Tyner has won two Grammy Awards for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance and has collaborated with many noted artists, including the Art Farmer-Benny Golson Jazztet, John Coltrane, Stephane Grappelli, Sonny Rollins, and Ike and Tina Turner. A powerful virtuoso, Tyner has stayed true to his own unique musical style from his early days and continues to evolve and redefine excellence. He was nominated at the 45th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Jazz Instrumental Album (Individual or Group) for his recent album McCoy Tyner Plays John Coltrane - Live at the Village Vanguard.

Established in 1957, the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc., also known as the Recording Academy, is dedicated to improving the quality of life and cultural conditions for music and its makers. An organization of 18,000 musicians, producers, and other recording professionals, the Recording Academy is internationally known for the Grammy Awards and is responsible for numerous groundbreaking outreach, professional development, cultural enrichment, education and human services programs.