BMI opens its doors and welcomes all music creators, regardless of their musical genre. Unlike ASCAP, our only competitor at the time, all are granted membership even if they have no established successful material.

The Company plays a proactive role in the rise of country music. Rhythm & Blues makes its appearance in Billboard, with BMI virtually alone in representing R&B creators and publishers, licensing more than 90 percent of R&B radio hits on a weekly basis. Both genres fuse to give birth to a new genre that will sweep America and the world – rock and roll.

Elvis Presley joins BMI and in quick succession, other rock and roll performers follow, including Jerry Lee Lewis, the Everly Brothers and Buddy Holly. BMI also becomes the home for jazz composers, signing Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk, Sonny Rollins and Lionel Hampton, among others, along with future legends such as Willie Nelson and Paul Simon.

BMI holds its first annual Country Awards with Hank Williams as the event’s big winner. The first BMI R&B Awards are also held, honoring songs that include “All I Have to do is Dream,” by Boudleaux Bryant, “Great Balls of Fire,” by Jack Hammer and Otis Blackwell and “Johnny B. Goode,” by Chuck Berry.

BMI hires Frances Preston to head the Company’s new Nashville office. Reportedly, she is the first female corporate executive in Tennessee, and the first fulltime performing rights organization-representative in the South. She becomes BMI’s President & CEO in 1986 and holds that title until her retirement in 2004.

Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland all join BMI. Together, in just three years they amass 28 Top 20 hits for Motown acts like the Four Tops and the Supremes, including “Stop! In the Name of Love.”

John Williams signs with BMI. One of the greatest composers of all time, he goes on to score a myriad of iconic films, including Jaws, Superman, Indiana Jones, Star Wars and Harry Potter, among others.

Dolly Parton also signs with BMI, as does Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff, Aretha Franklin and Barry Manilow.

The King of Pop, Michael Jackson, signs with BMI, as does Natalie Cole, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, Barry and Maurice Gibb, and Gloria and Emilio Estefan.

BMI songwriter John Lennon delivers “Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” a moving message of hope, peace and humanity, while Paul Simon becomes the leading BMI Million Performance Certificate winner with his fifth award for “The Fifty Ninth Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy).”

Dolly Parton rules the charts with such classics as “I Will Always Love You,” while Stevie Nicks joins Fleetwood Mac and becomes a role model for generations of aspiring female rockers. In 2014, Nicks is named the BMI Pop Icon.

BMI Icons RUN-DMC make history with their self-titled debut, rap’s first gold album, followed by King of Rock, rap’s first platinum album. With “Walk This Way,” their epic collaboration with Aerosmith, they forever blurred the lines between rap and rock.

BMI Pop Icons Daryl Hall and John Oates become the best-selling rock duo of all time, while Roy Orbison joins Elvis Presley as the only singers to ever simultaneously have two top 5 albums on the Billboard charts.

BMI’s first Richard Kirk Award, given to composers who have made significant contributions to the realm of television and film music, is presented to influential composer Jerry Goldsmith.

BMI celebrates its 50th anniversary in 1990. Included in the yearlong celebration is a special event honoring international superstar Michael Jackson.

The Righteous Brothers’ song “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’,” written by Phil Spector, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, becomes the first song to accumulate more than seven million airplays in BMI’s history.

Husband-and-wife team, Robert Lopez and Kristin Anderson-Lopez, meet at the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. They go on to win the 2013 Oscar for “Let It Go” from the blockbuster film Frozen, landing Robert in the “EGOT” history book for winning an Emmy, GRAMMY, Oscar and Tony. In 2018, he becomes the first double EGOT winner, when the couple win an Oscar for “Remember Me” from the animated hit film, Coco.

After a long and historical career at BMI, Frances Preston steps down from her post as President and CEO. Del Bryant, a BMI songwriter and employee since 1972, assumes the role of President and Chief Executive Officer.

At 15 years old, Taylor Swift signs with BMI. BMI also signs Lady Gaga and Rihanna.

BMI Icon Awards are presented to Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Bo Didley, James Brown, Bill Anderson, Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland, Van Morrison, Carlos Santana, and Daryl Hall and John Oates.

Having been employed by BMI since 1994, Mike O’Neill is appointed Chief Executive Officer in 2013. He assumes the additional role of BMI President one year later.

BMI wins its rate court battle against digital giant Pandora in landmark case, protecting public performance royalties for songwriters, composers and publishers.

BMI becomes the first music rights organization in the world to deliver over $1 billion in public performance royalties to its songwriters, composers and publishers.

BMI challenges the U.S. Department of Justice in federal court and wins historic case, ensuring the continued practice of fractional licensing and marking a significant victory for creators, copyright owners and the music industry at large.

#1 global sensation “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi makes Latin music history, and Lil Nas X #becomes the artist with the longest-running Billboard Hot 100 #1 in history with "Old #Town Road."

"Every Breath You Take," written by Sting and performed by The Police, becomes the most-performed song in BMI's repertoire.

BMI has been in business for nearly 80 years and continues to be as groundbreaking as ever in serving our affiliates and modernizing music licensing.