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BMI is committed to protecting copyright to ensure that its songwriters, composers and music publishers are fairly compensated for the use of their work. BMI also values its relationships with those businesses that use music, offering access to the world’s most popular music for hundreds of thousands of licensees throughout the United States.

Additionally, BMI is dedicated to fostering new talent and supporting music careers from the ground up. The organization’s layered approach to songwriter and composer development includes educational, creative and promotional opportunities, such as:

Showcases
BMI stages showcases all over the country. Weekly, monthly, quarterly or annually, these series highlight both bold new voices and established hit-makers: Acoustic Lounge at SXSW, Speed Dating for Songwriters, Show and Tell, Sonidos Showcase, Know them Now, Next Big Wave and Songwriter Social Club are just a few of the showcases organized by BMI’s regional offices.

To learn more, contact your regional BMI office and stay up-to-date by viewing the BMI.com events calendar.

Festivals and Conferences
BMI books stages and performance slots at premier festivals and conferences throughout the year, including SXSW, Maui Songwriters Festival, Luck Reunion, Lollapalooza, Hangout Fest, ONE Music Fest, Austin City Limits Music Festival, Key West Songwriters Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, LAMC, Premios Tu Musica Urbana, Expo Compositores, numerous Billboard-led conferences, and more.

Panels
From BMI events like How I Wrote That Song, Speakers Series, She’s The Music to in-depth conversations at top tier festivals including Sundance, Comic-con, Tribeca Film Festival and SXSW, BMI panels offer invaluable insights and advice from insiders throughout the year.

Workshops
Held in New York City, the Tony award-winning BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop is an elite creative hub that nurtures the brightest new talent within the musical theatre community. The BMI Jazz Composers Workshop, founded in 1988, was formed to foster composition for the jazz big band. BMI 101 is an hour-long introductory workshop for writers and publishers, which discusses the history of performing rights, the origins of BMI and the current role BMI plays in the complex, ever-evolving music industry. The BMI Conductor’s Workshop is a four-week course taught by conductor Lucas Richman for BMI composers who are looking to refine their conducting skills. BMI annually sponsors the NYU TV Scoring Workshop and the NYU Music for Advertising Workshop where students attend two weeks of hands-on scoring, critiques, panels and recording under the mentorship of esteemed composers in their respective industries.

The BMI Foundation, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation founded in 1985, is dedicated to encouraging the creation, performance and study of music through awards, scholarships, internships, grants, and commissions.

Learn more at bmifoundation.org.

BMI conducts music showcases nationwide and offers a variety of professional development seminars, but we cannot get your songs placed on the radio. Publishers, labels, managers and other outside executives may help you find new outlets for your work, but as a performing right organization, BMI’s focus is fair payment and copyright protection for our songwriters, composers and music publishers.

For career advice on how you can be heard, attend a BMI-sponsored workshop or contact your local songwriters association, like the Nashville Songwriters Association (NSAI) in Nashville.

No, that is not within the scope of our business.

For career advice, attend a BMI-sponsored workshop, or contact your local songwriters association, like the Nashville Songwriters Association, or NSAI, in Nashville.

No. BMI only represents its members in their role as songwriters, composers and publishers of songs and scores. Getting a record deal is not within the scope of our business.

Contact information for BMI’s regional Creative departments is available for additional questions.

Celebrating over 80 years of service to songwriters, composers, music publishers and businesses, BMI is a global leader in music rights management, serving as an advocate for the value of music. BMI represents the public performance rights in over 20.6 million musical works created and owned by more than 1.3 million songwriters, composers, and music publishers. The Company negotiates music license agreements and distributes the fees it generates as royalties to its affiliated writers and publishers when their songs are performed in public. In 1939, BMI created a groundbreaking open-door policy becoming the only performing rights organization to welcome and represent the creators of blues, jazz, country, and American roots music. Today, the musical compositions in BMI’s repertoire, from chart toppers to perennial favorites, span all genres of music and are consistently among the most-performed hits of the year.

To learn more about BMI and how to become a BMI affiliate, consider attending one of our upcoming BMI 101 workshops.