News Archive
I’m often asked which point of view is the strongest for songs. Point of view, which is sometimes referred to as the narrative perspective, determines whether the singer is sharing his or her own story and feelings; telling someone else’s story and feelings; or acting as an impartial narrator. Let’s…
BMI Congratulates its UK Americana Awards 2023 Winners
After two years of COVID cancellations, the UK Americana Music Week returned to East London between January 23 - 26, 2023. As one of the UK’s biggest celebrations of American roots music, BMI supported this year’s events that concluded with the prestigious UK Americana Awards at the Hackney Empire on…
Toby Keith to be Honored with BMI Icon Award at the 2022 BMI Country Awards
BMI will celebrate the extraordinary career of Toby Keith by presenting him with the BMI Icon Award at the company’s 70th annual BMI Country Awards, to be held at BMI’s Nashville office on November 8, 2022. BMI President and CEO Mike O’Neill will host the ceremony with Clay Bradley, BMI…
What’s Hot—and What’s Not In Songwriting
I was recently asked how the tools and techniques I teach today differ from those I have taught in the past. Have I noticed any recent changes in successful songs and in the processes of writing them? I looked back over the thirty years that I have been teaching songwriting,…
BMI Congratulates CMHoF Inductees Hank Williams Jr., Marty Stuart and Dean Dillon
BMI is proud to announce that our legendary songwriters, Hank Williams Jr., Marty Stuart and Dean Dillon, make up this year’s class of inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame, bringing the total number of honorees to 142. Dean Dillon, who was named a BMI Icon in 2013, earns…
BMI Indie Spotlight: Early James
“I make songs for a living,” says singer/songwriter, Early James. “That’s a weird thing to say.” The Birmingham, AL resident caught the music bug at age six, when he witnessed a local musician perform at a family function. There isn’t a time in his life when there wasn’t a song…
BMI Indie Spotlight: Randy Rogers
Randy Rogers knew from age 12 that playing music is what he wanted to do. After developing his musical talents in church and in the small Opry halls of Northeast Texas, he began writing songs that gave way to the formation of The Randy Rogers Band. Over the course of…
BMI Congratulates its 2019 Dove Award Winners – Celebrates With After-Party
Honoring the top names in all the different genres of Christian and Gospel music, the 50th annual Dove Awards celebration, held Tuesday night at Lipscomb University’s Allen Arena in Nashville, was buzzing with the success of many, many BMI songwriters. In addition to the awards ceremony, for the fourth year…
BMI Congratulates its 2019 Dove Nominees
The nominations are out and many BMI songwriters are again in the running for this year’s prestigious Dove Awards. Honoring the top names in all the different genres of Christian and Gospel music, the 50th annual celebration will be held at Lipscomb University’s Allen Arena in Nashville. Congratulations to all…
Ken Burns Explores Country Music in New PBS Documentary Series
On September 15, master storytellers Ken Burns, Dayton Duncan and Julie Dunfey’s new eight-part documentary, Country Music, will debut on PBS. The much-awaited series chronicles the evolution of country music and explores the question most asked about the genre, especially in today’s world, “What is country music?” The Emmy-winning trio…