May 15, 2007

BMI Honors the Bee Gees as icons at 55th Annual Pop Awards Ceremony

“You’re Beautiful” Takes Internet Song Prize;
“Miss Murder” Named Top Song on College Radio

Press Release

LOS ANGELES, May 15, 2007 – Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), the leading U.S. performing rights organization, staged its 55th Annual Pop Awards tonight honoring the Bee Gees as its 2007 Pop Icons; Kara DioGuardi and Sean Garrett as Songwriters of the Year; “Because of You” as Song of the Year; and Warner/Chappell Music as Publisher of the Year. The awards were hosted by BMI President & CEO Del Bryant and BMI Vice President/General Manager, Los Angeles, Barbara Cane and held at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills. The black-tie, invitation-only dinner recognized the writers and publishers of the past year’s 50 most performed pop songs from BMI’s catalog of more than 6.5 million compositions.

A highlight of the ceremony was the musical tribute to legendary singing trio the Bee Gees. The brothers Gibb were honored as BMI Icons for their “unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers.” Accepting the awards were Barry and Robin Gibb, and Yvonne Gibb, wife of the late Maurice Gibb. The tribute saw American Idol finalist Katharine McPhee perform “Immortality,” Bebe Winans singing a medley of “Nights on Broadway” and “How Deep Is Your Love” and Kelly Rowland performing “Emotion.” The musical partnership of Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb has produced some of the most timeless songs ever written, including “Night Fever,” “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart,” “Staying Alive,” “I Started a Joke,” “How Deep Is Your Love,” “Jive Talkin,” “You Should Be Dancing” and “Run To Me.” The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees signature three-part harmony has endured for more than four decades, and with this award they join an elite list of previous BMI Icons that includes Crosby, Stills & Nash, Paul Simon, James Brown, Brian Wilson, Isaac Hayes, Dolly Parton and Carlos Santana.

Kara DioGuardi and Sean Garrett both tied for the coveted BMI Songwriter of the Year title, placing three songs each in the most performed list of 50. The trio of tracks earning DioGuardi her first Songwriter of the Year Crystal were “Real Thing” (Bo Bice),“Walk Away” (Kelly Clarkson) and “I’m Feeling You” (Santana featuring The Wreckers). Tonight marked her seventh BMI award; she received a BMI Latin Award in March. Garrett picked up his first Pop Songwriter of the Year Crystal for penning “Run It!” (Chris Brown), “Check On It” (Beyoncé featuring Slim Thug) and “Grillz” (Nelly featuring Paul Wall, Ali & Gipp). Garrett now holds 12 BMI Awards in both the Pop and Urban categories, including being named one of the BMI Top 10 Urban Producers at last year’s honors.

“Because of You,”co-written by BMI songwriters Ben Moody and David Hodges, along with Kelly Clarkson and published by 12:06 Publishing, Smellslikemetal Publishing, EMI-Blackwood Music, Inc. and Dwight Frye Music, Inc., was named BMI Pop Song of the Year for scoring the most airplay of any song on the most-performed list during the award period. “Because of You” earned the trio a huge top ten Billboard Hot 100 hit and the #1 spot on Top 40 radio, where it spent six weeks at the peak position, and was included on Clarkson’s second release, Breakaway.

Warner/Chappell Music (Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. & Unichappell Music, Inc) claimed its BMI Pop Publisher of the Year prize with 11 songs on the top 50 list and the highest percentage of copyright ownership of this year’s awards. Warner/Chappell Music CEO Dave Johnson accepted the company’s 13th BMI Pop Publisher of the Year Crystal.

BMI also recognized the performance achievements of two other songs: “Miss Murder,” which earned Most Performed Song on College Radio kudos for AFI’s Hunter Burgan, Adam Carson, Davey Havok, Jade Puget and Ex Noctem Nacimur Music (publishers); and “You’re Beautiful,” BMI’s Internet Song of the Year award for songwriters James Blunt (PRS), Amanda Ghost (PRS), Sacha Skarbek (PRS), and David Platz Music, Inc., EMI-Blackwood Music, Inc., Universal-Songs of PolyGram International, Inc., for tallying the most hits on BMI-licensed web sites during the award period.

Taking home two BMI Pop Awards each were Fall Out Boy’s Andrew Hurley, Patrick Stump, Joe Trohman and Pete Wentz; Mariah Carey; Ne-Yo; and Nickelback members Daniel Adair, Chad Kroeger, Mike Kroeger and Ryan Peake (all SOCAN). Publishing companies EMI-Blackwood Music, Inc., Warner/Chappell Music (Unichappell Music, Inc./Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.), Universal Music Publishing (Irving Music/Songs of Universal, Inc./Universal-Songs of Polygram International, Inc.), BMG Music Group (Killer Tracks/Zomba Songs), Sony/ATV Songs LLC, K’Stuff Publishing, Chicago X Softcore Songs, Rye Songs, and Super Sayin’ Publishing were each cited for multiple award-winning songs.

The BMI Foundation’s 10th Annual John Lennon Scholarship was presented to 21-year-old Berklee College of Music student Emily Shackelton. A native of Northern Minnesota, she was awarded a $10,000 scholarship for her song “Goodbye” by the Foundation. Established in 1997 by Yoko Ono in conjunction with the BMI Foundation and matched by generous donations from Gibson Musical Instruments, the John Lennon Scholarship program recognizes the talent of young songwriters between the ages of 15 and 24.

Broadcast Music, Inc.® (BMI) is an American performing right organization that represents more than 300,000 songwriters, composers and publishers in all genres of music. For more than 65 years, BMI has represented the most popular and beloved music from around the world, a vast repertoire that includes more than 6.5 million works. The non-profit-making corporation collects license fees from businesses that use music, which it then distributes as royalties to the musical creators and copyright owners it represents.

A complete list of 2007 BMI Pop Awards winners is included on bmi.com and high resolution photos are available at press.bmi.com. To request access, please contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

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Contact:
Hanna Pantle; BMI
310-289-6328; .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Brenda Camberos; BMI
310/289-6325; .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)