Musical highlights will include performances by Vampire Weekend, The Wombats, The Fratellis, The Subways, Young Knives, These New Puritans, Iron and Wine, Crystal Castles, Okkevil River, Lightspeed Champion, Black Mountain, Sunset Rubdown, and many more.

Convention participants include Terry Mcbride (Nettwerk Group), Fred Bolza (Sony BMG), Michael Bayler (Rights Marketing), Greg Parmley (IQ magazine), Miranda Sawyer, Anthony Volodkin (Hype Machine), Jeremey Silver (Avid Education), Justin Kalifowitz (Downtown Music Publishing), Darren Taylor (Rocksound), and other industry notables.

BMI will co-moderate a publishing panel and is hosting rock and acoustic showcases. The discounted (£99) passes for BMI affiliates can be obtained at www.escapegreat.com/549ec/.

Check out live photos from the event

Full BMI Grammy Award Winners List

Unable to attend the ceremony due to a tardy issuance of her visa, Winehouse watched, accepted awards and performed twice via satellite in London. Her innate vintage cool and authentic emotion echoed through her performances of Record and Song of the Year, “Rehab,” along with “I’m No Good.” After claiming the most Grammys of any artist throughout the evening, including Best New Artist, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Pop Vocal Album, Winehouse’s ubiquitous artistic shadow was most certainly in attendance.

Charismatic rap star Kanye West further emphasized his staying power with wins in Rap Album and Solo Rap Performance of the Year. Honored both as a songwriter and recording artist, West also earned Rap Song of the Year bragging rights for “Good Life.” In addition to garnering accolades for his solo work, West claimed Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for his collaboration with Common on “Southside.”

“What a beautiful day this is in Los Angeles!” Herbie Hancock’s visible surprise while accepting his Album of the Year trophy provided a sublimely extemporaneous moment during the telecast. The first jazz project in 43 years to win Album of the Year, Hancock’s River: The Joni Letters features collaborations with numerous contemporary stylists, including Norah Jones and Corinne Bailey Rae. The project also garnered Best Contemporary Jazz Album honors.

BMI’s preeminent rock family enjoyed a successful night as well. The unfaltering Foo Fighters took home Best Hard Rock Performance honors for driving single “The Pretender,” while their Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace earned Rock Album of the Year. Critical darlings and rock purists The White Stripes claimed Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for the title track to Icky Thump, which also garnered Best Alternative Album bragging rights for the enigmatic duo.

Beloved jazz saxophonist and composer Michael Brecker received posthumous awards for Best Jazz Instrumental Album (Individual or Group) and Best Jazz Instrumental Solo. Perennial favorites The Clark Sisters also secured honors for Best Gospel Performance and Best Gospel Song.

Additional winners included Carrie Underwood for Best Female and Keith Urban for Best Male Country Vocal Performances; Calle 13 for Best Latin Urban Album; Ray Price and Willie Nelson for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals; Juan Luis Guerra for Best Tropical Latin Album; Vince Gill’s These Days for Best Country Album; Rihanna’s “Umbrella” for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration; Maroon 5 for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals; and Alison Krauss for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.

From June 2007 to September 2007, 30 10-foot, hand-painted, free-standing Gibson Les Paul replica guitars were on public display around More London on London's South Bank by City Hall, SE1. An additional 30 hand-painted and signed regular sized Gibson SG guitars were publicly displayed around The O2 Arena in Greenwich. All the associated visual artists, including Sir Peter Blake, Andrew Logan, Peter Saville and the caricaturist Gerald Scarfe, collaborated with many of Britain’s best known and respected musicians exclusively for the Gibson Guitartown London charity campaign.

Each 10-foot Gibson Les Paul replica guitar has been personally signed by rock & roll legends such as Sir Paul McCartney, Brian May, Robert Plant, Noel Gallagher, Paul Weller, Rod Stewart, Ozzy Osbourne, KT Tunstall, Bruce Dickinson, New Order, Dirty Pretty Things, Hard-Fi, Kasabian, Magic Numbers, James Blunt, Katie Melua, Mark Knopfler, Roxy Music and The Stereophonics.

Each Gibson SG guitar has been personally signed by musicians such as Ronnie Wood, Slash, Paul Rodgers, Roger Waters, Corinne Bailey Rae, Lemmy, Depeche Mode, The View, The Fratellis, Lost Prophets, Kaiser Chiefs and Mark Ronson.

All 62 Gibson guitars will be sold at the charity auction event to be held in IndigO2 at The O2 on Tuesday, November 20, 2007. The auction, hosted by Julien’s Auctions in association with Sotheby’s, will also be streamed online via the Auction Networks website and live eBay bidding.

To bid online and for more information on Gibson Guitartown London, go to www.londonguitartown.com.

To order the auction catalogue, go to www.juliensauctions.com/londonguitartown.

When Amy Winehouse’s (pictured, top) Back to Black debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in March, it marked the highest bow by a British female solo artist ever. A few weeks later, Joss Stone’s Introducing Joss Stone smashed her record by debuting at No. 2. James Blunt, Corrine Bailey Rae, KT Tunstall and Snow Patrol are striking gold, if not platinum, in the U.S.

“The current British invasion is due to a number of factors,” posits Evan Lamberg, EMI Music Publishing EVP of Creative for North America. “Top 40 radio is playing less and less hip-hop and rap. This is leaving more opportunity for great non-urban songwriters. VH-1 has done a tremendous job being early champions of these British acts. [Also], these acts are coming over to the U.S. again and again. Nothing replaces the good old-fashioned way of getting your hands in the dirt and taking your music to the people.”

Universal Republic president Monte Lipman, whose label handles Winehouse, Mika and Katie Melua in the U.S., calls these acts “a breath of fresh air. They don’t have a formula.”

For many of these artists, the first point of exposure for U.S. fans has been the Internet. “The industry has democratized where artists are empowered at a grassroots level like myspace,” says David Sinclair, a London-based journalist who writes for The Times.

The latest wave started in 2004 when Snow Patrol quietly crept onto U.S. shores with Final Straw. The Scottish-Irish quintet, with its often intense, always melodic, alternative rock, toured frequently in the U.S., slowly building an audience. By the time Eyes Open came out in the U.S. in May 2006, Americans were ready to hear more. That album’s “Chasing Cars” became the go-to song for hip TV shows, airing on outlets like Grey’s Anatomy, and leading the track to take up residency in the upper reaches of Billboard’s Adult Top 40 and Adult Contemporary charts. According to Universal Music International, the album has sold close to four million copies worldwide.

Scotland is responsible for much more than one-half of Snow Patrol and has also given us KT Tunstall. The Scottish lass began promoting herself in the U.S. long before her Relentless/Virgin debut came out in February 2006. Among her memorable gigs was a stirring acoustic set at BMI/Billboard’s SXSW brunch in March 2005.

Her big break in the U.K. came when she performed “Black Horse & the Cherry Tree” on the influential British TV program Later with Jools Holland with less than 24 hours’ notice after another act cancelled. Eye to the Telescope, which had come out to little fanfare, was re-released and eventually shot up to No. 3 on the British album charts.

In the U.S., “Black Horse” has spent more than a year on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary Chart while the second single, “Suddenly I See,” has been locked in the upper reaches of the chart for more than four months. Eye to the Telescope has been on the Billboard 200 for more than 65 weeks.

The latest Scottish imports impacting in the U.S. are The Fratellis. The first major U.S. exposure for the Scottish trio, all of whom have adopted bassist Barry Fratelli’s last name, came from iTune’s use of the utterly infectious “Flathead” in television ads. The trio’s debut, Costello Music (Cherry Tree/Interscope), revels in retro music that sounds instantly recognizable while new at the same time. The group can also be heard on the soundtrack to the movie Hot Fuzz.

While bands like Snow Patrol and the Fratellis are having their day, solo artists like former British Army captain James Blunt are leading the charge.

While many of the U.K.-based acts come to the U.S. via the American label’s U.K. affiliate, Blunt’s entry point was through Linda Perry’s Custard imprint. Perry signed the singer/songwriter after he’d linked with EMI Music Publishing in London. By the time Back to Bedlam came out in the U.S on Custard/Atlantic, the album had already hit No. 1 in the U.K. The first U.S. single, “You’re Beautiful,” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the first song by a British performer to top that chart in 10 years.

Blunt rode the success of Bedlam and “Beautiful” to five Grammy nominations.

Like Blunt, fellow Brit Corinne Bailey Rae had already hit No. 1 in her native U.K. when she came over here with her sweetly nuanced, mellow tunes. Her self-titled chart topper made her only the fourth female singer in the history of the British charts to debut at No. 1 with her first album. In the U.S., her rise has been no less spectacular, bolstered by major TV exposure via outlets like “Oprah Winfrey.” Rae snared three Grammy nominations, including the coveted best new artist. Her debut has surpassed the platinum mark here, pushed by first single “Put Your Records On.”

While Rae has gotten her share of press, seldom has an artist caused quite the media stir as Amy Winehouse. She’s a critical darling as famous for her beehive and tattoos as her shimmery, soulful, girl-group musical style.

The Enfield, England native’s Back to Black has already sold more than 1.2 million in the U.K. and helped Winehouse capture the Brit Award for best British female artist in February.

“She’s one part soul diva, one part jazz singer and one part rock star,” says Lamberg. “A deadly combo.”

“Fortunately for us, Amy loves to tour,” says Lipman, who notes she’ll play U.S. dates in June and this fall.

Winehouse’s U.S. labelmate Katie Melua was born in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, but ultimately settled in Surrey, England. At 15, Melua won a televised talent competition and was on her way. The classic pop singer released Call off the Search in 2003 and the album went on to sell 1.2 million copies in the U.K. alone. Her second album, Piece by Piece, moved 1.8 million copies in the U.K., with worldwide sales of more than 3 million.

Like Melua, Mika is another British immigrant. His music was created out of the unending loneliness that Mika says often engulfed him after his family moved from Beirut to Paris and, ultimately, to London. Vocally, he’s a cross between Freddie Mercury (whom he references on his first single, “Grace Kelly”) and Robbie Williams. The colorful ’70s, psychedelic pop images that are the album art for Life in Cartoon Motion and his videos are as much a part of his image as his delectable, pop music.

“With Mika, the key word is different,” says Lipman. “Even though people respect the success you’re having, people [at pop radio] look at us kind of sideways and say ‘You expect me to play that?’ and we say your listeners have spoken.” Indeed, the album racked up several consecutive weeks as the No. 1 pop album on iTunes.

Like Mika, Lily Allen’s personality is as big as her music. Her music is classic pop, but she ties in ska, rap and her other influences to create a thoroughly modern and invigorating sound. Not surprisingly, Alright, Still has gone double platinum in her native England and platinum in Europe. It debuted at No. 20 on the Billboard 200 and continues to sell well.

Part of the strength of the current British invasion is its diversity. British rapper Lady Sovereign caused waves of excitement when she became the first non-American female signed to Jay-Z’s Def Jam label.

The press excitement has outweighed sales so far, but Sinclair says that’s not surprising given how outside the mainstream her music is. “She’s a grime queen, it’s deep hardcore. It’s like East London rap, drum and bass.” But that edge is what has made the Wembley, England native such a phenomenon at 21. “She’s very alternative,” Sinclair continues. “She’s a name that people like to drop and frequently do.”

Her debut album, Public Warning, entered the Billboard Top 200 at No. 48, but her popularity is sure to rise when she opens for Gwen Stefani this summer.

Similar to Lady Sovereign, Don Corleon relies on street rhythms to propel his sound. The leading Jamaican dancehall artist/producer has helped advance the dancehall movement in the U.S. through his work with such acts as Sean Paul, Rihanna, Beenie Man, Capleton, Bounty Hunter and Wayne Wonder. Kartel, noting a resemblance between the two, allegedly gave Donovan Bennett the Don Corleon moniker, as a takeoff on Marlon Brando’s “Godfather” character, Don Corleone.

As these artists continue to make inroads in America, Sinclair expects today’s success to continue to swell: “Everyone in Britain is trying to make a record,” he says, with only a little overstatement. “It’s a river that’s burst its banks and it’s flowing in all directions.”

Newcomer Amy Winehouse (PRS), who performed her 60s-tinged jazzy number “Rehab,” took home the British Female Solo Artist trophy. Glasgow-based trio The Fratellis (PRS) were named British Breakthrough Act, while American popsters Orson earned the International Breakthrough Act Brit Award.

Oasis (PRS), who dominated Brit rock in the 1990s, received a special award for Outstanding Contribution to Music.

Established in 1977, the Brit Awards is a charity event that donates all proceeds to the British Record Industry Trust, better known as the Brit Trust, an organization that encourages the exploration and pursuit of the educational, cultural and therapeutic benefits of music. The Brit Awards is one of the U.K.’s most exciting, most talked about and most successful music events, and is considered the equivalent of the Grammys.

Lily Allen	Corinne Bailey Rae	Snow Patrol

Newcomer Lily Allen leads the BMI nominees with a total of four, including British Female Solo Artist, MasterCard British Album, British Single Shortlist and British Breakthrough Act. She will compete against another new voice, three-time nominee Corinne Bailey Rae, in all but the album category.

Also taking home three nods were rock outfit Snow Patrol, whose smash "Chasing Cars" made the single shortlist, and neo-soul duo Gnarls Barkley, who is up for a trio of international awards.

Gnarls Barkley	Amy Winehouse	Kasabian

Double mentions went to 22-year-old singer/songwriter Amy Winehouse, Brit-pop quartet Kasabian and post-punk rockers Razorlight. Former Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker is looking to win the British Male Solo Artist trophy, while BMI "Pick of the Month" featured artists The Feeling will vie for the British Single Brit Award with their hit "Fill My Little World."

Razorlight	Jarvis Cocker	The Feeling

Established in 1977, the Brit Awards is a charity event that donates all proceeds to the British Record Industry Trust, better known as the Brit Trust, an organization that encourages the exploration and pursuit of the educational, cultural and therapeutic benefits of music. The Brit Awards is one of the U.K.'s most exciting, most talked about and most successful music events, and is considered the equivalent of the Grammys.

BMI's 2007 Brit Awards Nominees:

British Male Solo Artist
Jarvis Cocker (PRS)

British Female Solo Artist
Amy Winehouse (PRS)
Corinne Bailey Rae (PRS)
Lily Allen (PRS)
Nerina Pallot (PRS)

British Group
Kasabian (PRS)
Razorlight (PRS)
Snow Patrol (PRS)

MasterCard British Album
Amy Winehouse (PRS)
Back to Black

Lily Allen (PRS)
Alright, Still

Snow Patrol (PRS)
Eyes Open

British Single Shortlist
"Put Your Records On"
Corrine Bailey Rae (PRS)

"Fill My Little World"
The Feeling (PRS)

"A Moment Like This"
Written by Jorgen Elofsson and John Reid

"Smile"
Lily Allen (PRS)

"America"
Razorlight (PRS)

"I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker"
Sandi Thom (PRS)

"Chasing Cars"
Snow Patrol (PRS)

"All Time Love"
Written by Jamie Hartman (PRS)

British Breakthrough Act
Corrine Bailey Rae (PRS)
The Fratellis (PRS)
Lily Allen (PRS)

British Live Act
Guillemots (PRS)
Kasabian (PRS)

International Female Solo Artist
Cat Power
Christina Aguilera
Pink

International Group
The Flaming Lips
Gnarls Barkley
Red Hot Chili Peppers

International Album
Gnarls Barkley
St Elsewhere

International Breakthrough Act
Gnarls Barkley
Orson
The Raconteurs
Wolfmother (APRA)

Outstanding Contribution to Music
Oasis (PRS)