May 2025
Dear Songwriter, Composer and Publisher,
I hope you’re doing well and having a wonderful spring. Here at BMI, we’ve been working hard to enhance our service to you and staying highly engaged in Washington, DC, to protect your rights and royalties. I’m happy to take this opportunity to update you on these important efforts.
In March, we were thrilled to launch BMI Spark, an exciting new program designed to help our songwriters, composers and producers thrive at every career stage. Spark features exclusive discounts and special offers on leading music creation tools and technology, valuable career insights, educational content, health and wellness resources, and beyond, all curated to ignite your creative development and enhance your well-being. Available only to BMI affiliates and accessible through your online services portal, Spark is a great way to connect with a wide range of tools and resources to help you succeed. We recently added 11 new partners with plans for more going forward, so I encourage you to check back regularly and explore how Spark can benefit you.
Another new program we’re very excited about is our BMI Composer Lab, designed to provide emerging composers with a unique experience to foster artistic growth and professional development. Led by acclaimed composer and former director of the Sundance Film Music Program Peter Golub, and BMI’s VP of Film, TV & Visual Media Tracy McKnight, the program will select ten composers to participate in an online workshop followed by an onsite intensive in Los Angeles. Throughout the Lab, participants will also be advised by renowned BMI composers and industry experts. You can learn more here and share your submission through May 30.
On the advocacy front, BMI responded to the U.S. Copyright Office’s February Notice of Inquiry, which stemmed from music users raising concerns with Congress about the number of PROs and how royalties are distributed. As I’ve shared, we suspected the ultimate goal of music users raising these concerns is to pay you less for your creative work. Our suspicion was confirmed in the filings as several licensees advocated in their comments for a statutory license on public performance rates, among other suggestions that would harm your ability to get fairly compensated for your work. In practice, statutory licenses favor users over creators, and we will fight any of these proposals tooth and nail in Washington, DC, should any legislation be introduced. Last quarter, we asked for your help on this issue and nearly 7,000 of you made your voices heard by signing our letter to the Copyright Office. We greatly appreciate your support and will keep you posted about further developments.
Also, in DC, we were pleased to host a special evening with country superstar and longtime BMI affiliate Eric Church for members of Congress, the music community and representatives of various association partners. During the event, I reiterated to the policymakers in attendance the importance of ensuring that songwriters are compensated for their music, as well as the need for guardrails on generative AI technologies to protect creators. To that end, I also spent time on Capitol Hill meeting with members and senators, including the chairs of the House and Senate Intellectual Property subcommittees, to share this vital perspective on your behalf. Additionally, BMI supported the reintroduction of the bipartisan NO FAKES Act in the House and Senate, which will give creators an enforceable new federal intellectual property right in their image and voice. You can learn more about this landmark legislation on the Human Artistry Campaign’s website.
With this distribution, those eligible will see retro payments for the final true-up for Paramount+ from 2022 through 2024. Moreover, in collaboration with a coalition of societies, BMI was able to unlock eight years’ worth of licensing fees for Netflix performances in the Gulf States, from 2016 through 2023, resulting in Netflix payments for the first time from this region to eligible songwriters and composers. We’re very pleased to deliver these previously untapped royalties.
Once again, we have many talented affiliates to congratulate this quarter. We were delighted to honor our winners at the BMI Pop Awards, including BMI Champion Award recipient and global pop sensation Benson Boone. In addition, we saluted our remarkable family of composers at our Film, TV & Visual Media Awards, celebrating legendary composer Atticus Ross as our newest BMI Icon.
As for industry accolades, congratulations go out to our affiliates who were named NEA Jazz Masters and will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Kudos to our winners at the ACM Awards, BAFTA TV Craft Awards, Children’s & Family Emmy Awards, BRIT Awards, Premio Lo Nuestro and SCL Awards. Moreover, best of luck to our affiliates nominated for Tonys, Drama Desk Awards, Premios Tu Música Urbano and Ivor Novello Awards. I’d also like to thank all our amazing songwriters who played our stages and showcases at SXSW and at the Key West Songwriters Festival.
Next up, we’ll be celebrating the best and brightest classical talent at our Composer Awards as well as our incredible family of songwriters and publishers at our Christian Awards in June. And just around the corner, the BMI Stage returns for its 19th year at Lollapalooza. If you’re at Grant Park, stop by the stage. We’d love to see you.
Have a terrific summer!
Sincerely,
Mike O'Neill
President and Chief Executive Officer
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