News Archive
It would be hard to look at a list of current hit songs without noticing a trend: the growing use of featured artists. A featured artist is one who makes a guest appearance on another artist’s recording to create a collaboration. What’s the difference between a duet and a song…
“Amazed” Songwriter Aimee Mayo Shares Her Unexpected Journey to Hitmaker
Aimee Mayo’s life story sounds like a movie plot. She endured a volatile childhood growing up in Gadsden, Alabama, changing schools 11 times before fourth grade. Her father shot himself when she was 8 years old; he survived, and after Mayo’s parents divorced, her mother married an abusive man. She…
10 Ways to Push the Creative Envelope With Your Songs
Sometimes, playing it safe is the most dangerous thing we can do. This is especially applicable when our goal is to write songs that rise above the competition; songs that become artists’ signature songs; and songs that impact audiences and propel artists to a next level. We need to find…
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…
Tips for Writing Songs About Anything…But Love
At my BMI Nashville Songwriters’ Workshops, I screen and critique songs from each attendee. When I find songs that I believe are competitive with those being written by today’s top hitmakers, I forward them to ten music publishers who have agreed to listen. After the last BMI Workshop, I forwarded…
What Makes a Song a Hit?
When I worked in the A & R Department at a major record label, and later, as production coordinator for albums by hit artists, in many cases, my ears were the first barrier that had to be crossed when a song was submitted for those acts. Almost all the songs…
BMI Congratulates its 2019 GRAMMY Nominees
BMI is exceptionally proud to congratulate its many affiliates nominated for awards by the Recording Academy at the 61st GRAMMY Awards, scheduled to be held on February 10, 2019 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Nominations for the music industry’s most prestigious accolades were announced on December 7. In…
BMI Congratulates Loretta Lynn With Million-Air Award
BMI’s Jody Williams stopped by BMI songwriter Loretta Lynn’s 85th birthday bash at the Ryman Auditorium on April 15, to present the country star with a Million-Air award in recognition of two million radio spins of her song “Coal Miner’s Daughter.” Lynn’s celebratory show lasted two hours and was chockfull…
BMI Writers Take Major GRAMMY Nominations
After another prolific year of incredible music, BMI songwriters made a strong showing in the nominations for the 59th Annual GRAMMY Awards, slated to be presented Sunday, Feb. 12, 2017, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Earning multiple nods across the prestigious Recording Academy accolade’s 84 separate categories, the…
Writing and Placing Christmas and Holiday Songs
Imagine receiving airplay and earning income from a song year after year and having that same song be recorded by multiple artists over a span of decades. That is what can happen with a holiday-themed song. For many songwriters and music publishers, landing a holiday recording that becomes the next…
Loretta Lynn: Loretta Lynn Interview - The 2004 BMI Country Awards
Captured at BMI Country Awards 2004