BMI Live Celebrates 1st Anniversary of Distributing Royalties for Singer-Songwriter Performances

Posted in News on January 30, 2012

This month, BMI Live — the important and groundbreaking program that enables performing songwriters to be compensated for their public performances of their songs — celebrates its first year anniversary.

Over the course of the year, thousands of songwriters have signed up for the free program, many of them receiving royalty payments for the first time as a result. By logging onto the BMI Live section of bmi.com and registering their set lists, with the date and venue where they performed, these songwriters have made themselves eligible for quarterly royalty payments for the public performance of their original songs and compositions.

When designing the program, BMI felt it crucial to serve performing songwriters in all stages of their careers. But it is for those artists who face the tough, and at times hand-to-mouth, day-to-day realities of a performing songwriter that BMI Live has been most beneficial. For these artists — who make ends meet performing in bars, coffee shops, restaurants and even small theaters — BMI Live has provided a very welcome additional income.

To better serve these songwriters, over the course of the program’s first year, BMI has worked consistently to provide BMI Live users with greater and more convenient accessibility. Launched as a section of bmi.com, BMI has expanded access to make it accessible to songwriters anywhere, anytime.

BMI Live is now available to users of iPhones and Android devices. For Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users, BMI Live can be accessed from the BMI Mobile app, while Android users will find BMI Live on the BMI Mobile website.

“Small venues and clubs are the lifeblood for songwriters and bands,” said Mike O’Neill, BMI Senior Vice President of Repertoire and Licensing. “These venues support live, local music, as well as touring artists. They are the primary point of contact for thousands of singer-songwriters and their audiences. In turn, these artists provide a crucial service, offering a critical draw of consumers to these businesses. We’re committed to helping performing songwriters get paid for their music in these venues.”

To learn more about BMI Live, visit bmi.com/live today. If you are a performing songwriter, please participate. When you perform your songs in a venue, it is a public performance that is eligible for performance royalties. So go to bmi.com/live and sign up today. It’s your money — you’ve earned it and you should receive it.

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