After two years of COVID cancellations, the UK Americana Music Week returned to East London between January 23 - 26, 2023. As one of the UK’s biggest celebrations of American roots music, BMI supported this year’s events that concluded with the prestigious UK Americana Awards at the Hackney Empire on January…
Toby Keith to be Honored with BMI Icon Award at the 2022 BMI Country Awards
BMI will celebrate the extraordinary career of Toby Keith by presenting him with the BMI Icon Award at the company’s 70th annual BMI Country Awards, to be held at BMI’s Nashville office on November 8, 2022. BMI President and CEO Mike O’Neill will host the ceremony with Clay Bradley, BMI Vice…
What Makes a Song Iconic?
“Great means incredibly well crafted, easily memorable, with a universally relatable sentiment and a sense of authenticity—“from the heart” as they say. Iconic means touching a cultural nerve, standing the test of time and instantly recognizable by many people - that holds true even if it’s not widely considered great…
Songwriting Legends Carole Bayer Sager and Mike Stoller To Be Honored as BMI Icons at 70th Annual BMI Pop Awards
Evening Also Celebrates the Top Pop Songwriters and Music Publishers on Tuesday, May 10 in Beverly Hills
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 focuses…
Lolla Indie Spotlight: Ruston Kelly
This Nashville-based singer/songwriter is known for his delicately sculpted sound that captures chaos, heartbreak and redemption. A South Carolina native, he relocated to Music City at age 17 and landed a publishing deal with BMG Nashville in 2013. Since then, he has written for Tim McGraw and Josh Abbott Band, among…
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 two…
Country Music: What’s New—and What’s Next
Music in all genres is constantly evolving, and that is certainly evident on today’s country music charts. Hits by artists such as Keith Urban, Florida Georgia Line, Carrie Underwood, and Thomas Rhett bear little resemblance to those by country music legends who paved the way, such as Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton,…
Does Your Song Need a New Demo?
I have hundreds of songs sitting on shelves collecting dust—instead of royalties. Many of them were written decades ago and they were in sync, lyrically and melodically, to the eras in which they were composed. But as Larry Beaird, top session guitarist and owner of Beaird Music Group, stated, “Times change…
BMI Mourns the Loss of Songwriting Legend Curly Putman
BMI is saddened at the passing of Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member and multiple BMI award-winner Curly Putman, who died Sunday at the age of 85. Putman’s vast catalog of songs undeniably helped shape country music history and include, among others, “D-I-V-O-R-C-E” and “Green, Green Grass of Home.” He also…