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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:…
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,…
From the Archives

Audrey Winters, Little Richard, Tammy Wynette and George Jones huddle for a photo at the 1974 BMI Country Awards in Nashville.
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…
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…
Pitbull to Receive BMI President’s Award at 19th Annual BMI Latin Awards

Pitbull will receive the BMI President’s Award at the 19th annual BMI Latin Awards slated for March 30 at the Encore Wynn Las Vegas. The private ceremony salutes the songwriters and publishers of the past year’s most-performed Latin songs on American radio and television in the U.S. The BMI President’s Award is presented on unique occasions when an individual songwriter or executive has distinctly and…
NARM Offers $50 Discount Off Entertainment & Law Course Cost

NARM – the National Association of Recording Merchandisers – will offer a CLE (continuing legal education) course on Thursday, March 1 at the offices of Greenberg Traurig LLP in New York City. Part of the Entertainment & Technology Law Conference Series co-presented by NARM and digitalmusic.org, the half-day session will cover bankruptcy’s effects on copyright assets; the complex licensing of musical works; current monopoly and antitrust…
SF MusicTech Summit & Digital Music Forum Offer BMI Member Discounts

BMI will sponsor two key gatherings of digital and music movers and shakers next month: the San Francisco MusicTech Summit on February 13 and Digital Music Forum: East, February 22 and 23. Held at Hotel Kabuki in San Francisco, the one-day SF MusicTech Summit brings music and technology leaders together. BMI songwriters, composers and music publishers are encouraged to attend and to take advantage…
Remembering Etta James: 1938-2012

Etta James died on Friday, January 20. She was 73 years old. “With the passing of Etta James, we lose one of the most powerful and beautiful voices of blues and soul, and a woman whose spirit was as fierce and unapologetic as her music,” said BMI President & CEO Del Bryant. “James lived a life of both triumphs and…
