Recent Updates
Indie Spotlight: Transfer

There's a great deal to love about Future Selves, the epic debut album from San Diego's Transfer. Bound with anthemic choruses, psychedelic guitars and skewed pop hooks, theirs is a sound that clips stadium-sized riffs to anthemic lyricism. It's little wonder Q recently tipped them as the band most likely to emerge from America's indie hinterlands in 2011.
transferband.com
February Indie Profiles Now Live

BMI’s February batch of indie profiles is stacked with intriguing innovators. Transfer, Count Fleet, Casey Veggies, Brick + Mortar, I Am the Icarus, Shining Through, Automatic Static, Courrier, Stepdad and Big History are all spotlighted, along with vinyl-focused label Hit…
BMI to Participate in AIMP & CCC’s 2nd Annual Music Industry Toolbox

Free, informative event showcasing music management systems & software slated for Feb. 22 in Studio City
MusicWorld: Geico features Wrinkle Neck Mules, songwriter news, Q&A’s & more

Check out the new BMI MusicWorld digital issue, featuring… Important stories for working songwriters from Billboard, Rolling Stone, the New York Times and more. Geico + Wrinkle Neck Mules: Persevere long enough, and sometimes a stroke of great luck will come your way. This past November, Geico began airing a TV commercial featuring Virginia-based Wrinkle Neck Mules' “Central Daylight Time." Ammar Malik:…
The Road to Bonnaroo: Round One Rocks Feb. 27

Nashville’s Road to Bonnaroo competition is back. Eight first-round performers will kick off RTB 2012 on Monday, February 27 at the Mercy Lounge. With tight, three-song sets, Colorfeels, By Lightning, Toy, The Hollywood Kills, Quichenight, Laura Reed, Sam & Tre and Brandon Jazz & His Armed Forces will each vie for a spot at Bonnaroo. Presented by BMI, the Nashville Scene, Mercy Lounge and the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival,…
10 Questions: Ammar Malik

Ammar Malik is a guitar-toting songwriter from Virginia who, at 24, also happens to be one of pop’s hottest guns for hire. His involvement behind Gym Class Heroes’ “Stereo Hearts” sparked a pivotal camaraderie with that song’s featured vocalist, Adam Levine. That chemistry helped produce “Moves Like Jagger,” the massively infectious Maroon 5 single that needs no introduction. Taking stock—and a…
Catching Up with Dafnis Prieto, Winner of MacArthur Foundation Fellowship

When jazz drummer-composer Dafnis Prieto answered his telephone’s ring one day in October 2011 to find the director of the MacArthur Foundation on the line — informing him he’d been awarded one of the creativity fostering organization’s prestigious fellowships — he was “shocked, elated, humbled and proud all at the same time.” Prieto was also justly rewarded. The tireless work of the 37-year-old native of Santa Clara,…
10 Questions: Shawn K. Clement

Shawn K. Clement began touring as a guitarist for country and rock bands while still in his teens; after two years at the Berklee College of Music, he headed to Los Angeles to forge a career in film music. Along the way Clement avoided getting pigeonholed by film genre or musical style. His résumé includes such varied projects as TV’s Buffy The Vampire Slayer, the IMAX animated…
Songwriter Business News

Important stories for working songwriters: Billboard highlights the music that made the 2012 SuperBowl ads. The New York Times looks at the relationship between songs and the politicians who use them. The iHeartRadio app now includes college stations, and Rolling Stone helps spread the good news. Cloud music’s future was discussed at midem 2012 in Cannes, and for those of us unable to fly…
Indie Meets Mainstream: Geico Features Wrinkle Neck Mules in Latest Spot

Persevere long enough, and sometimes a stroke of great luck will come your way. That’s something Wrinkle Neck Mules have learned in recent months. This past November, Geico--yes, the insurance company famous for its Gecko spokes-creature--began airing a TV commercial featuring a snippet of “Central Daylight Time,” a song the Virginia-based band had recorded but not yet released. Neither the song-title nor the Mules are…
Global Leaders Meet in Cannes for midem 2012

International leaders in music, technology, brands and education came together for midem 2012, January 27-30 in Cannes. Panels led by experts in copyright, delivery platforms, music publishing and so much more filled the schedule of the summit, a must-attend event where current issues are debated and key business deals are reached. Richard Conlon, Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Communications & New Media for BMI, served as an advocate for copyright…
Remembering Jean Banks: 1934-2012

Jean Banks, Senior Director of Jazz and Musical Theatre at BMI, passed away on February 2 in her Lower East Side home after a long battle with lung cancer. She was 77 years old. Jean got her first taste of show business when she worked as an executive secretary for the New York office of Seven-Arts Productions. After her stint at Seven Arts, she also worked for a time at…
Sundance 2012: Rodriguez

When Rodriguez took the stage to perform at BMI’s 8th annual Sundance Snowball, he was every bit the awe-inspiring rock poet first introduced in his 1970’s recordings. The only difference is now, everyone knows it. Born in 1942 in Detroit to Mexican immigrants, Sixto Diaz Rodriguez released his first single in 1967, and followed with two albums on Sussex/A&M, 1970’s Cold Fact and the following year’s Coming…
Supreme Court Decision Provides for Restoration of Copyright Protection for Foreign Works

A January 18 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding a federal law that essentially pulls some works in the public domain back into copyright protection is winning applause from the creative community. The case, Golan vs. Holder, revolved around a 1994 law that applied largely to works first published abroad from 1923 to 1989 that had earlier not been eligible for copyright protection under U.S. law. The Court ruled…
Three Good Reasons To Love Your Songs

The kind of love I’ve been talking about is not something that happens overnight. It comes from putting in the countless hours necessary to perfect your craft, incorporating others’ suggestions that make sense to you and ignoring the ones that don’t.
Pitbull to Receive BMI President’s Award at 19th Annual BMI Latin Awards

Event Honoring 2011’s Top Latin Songwriters to be Held March 30 in Las Vegas
Kenny Chesney Leads List of 2012 ACM Awards Nominees

BMI songwriters and artists overwhelmingly dominate the list of 2012 Academy of Country Music Awards nominees, announced Thursday, January 26. BMI has historically represented the majority of country music’s leaders – from Hank Williams, Loretta Lynn and Porter Wagoner, to Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton and Merle Haggard – and a review of…
BMI Live Celebrates 1st Anniversary of Distributing Royalties for Singer-Songwriter Performances

This month, BMI Live — the important and groundbreaking program that enables performing songwriters to be compensated for their public performances of their songs — celebrates its first year anniversary. Over the course of the year, thousands of songwriters have signed up for the free program, many of them receiving royalty payments for the first time as a result. By logging onto the BMI Live section of bmi.com and…
Michael Woodard Wins on Series Finale of Popular Reality Singing Show ‘Majors and Minors’

14-year-old up-and-coming BMI writer wows fans and industry judges Last night, on the highly anticipated season finale of the popular reality singing show Majors and Minors, 14-year-old BMI writer and singer Michael Woodard took home the top prize of a music publishing deal and a record deal with RCA Records. Woodard, a sweet and gifted eighth grader from Philadelphia, won fans’ hearts with his incredible voice, positive attitude and infectious…

