Tips for Using Reverb and Compression Effects on Your Songs
Some practical approaches to using these popular tools of the trade Read more...
How Can Songwriters be Influenced by Music They Hear And Still be Unique?
Every songwriter wants to develop their own voice, but not everybody knows how to go about doing it. Here are some tips from BMI’s Creative team about finding, and knowing what to do, with inspiration. David Streit, BMI Creative, Los Angeles When starting out, I believe sometimes it makes sense to… Read more...
The Dos and Don’ts of Working With Producers
The way that I like to describe what a music producer does is that a music producer is to a recording as a director is to a movie. In other words, the producer is responsible for everything from the musical arrangement decisions all the way to working with the vocalist and… Read more...
10 Tips for Switching Gears When a Song Isn’t Working
A songwriter recently posed an intriguing question: what can we do when we have a strong idea for a song, but realize that the song we’re writing is not turning out nearly as well as we hoped? How do we change direction? How can we switch gears when we have grown… Read more...
BMI Supports Song Arts Academy Spring 2019 Workshop Starting May 20
BMI is proud to support Song Arts Academy’s spring workshop intensive starting on Monday, May 20. The workshop is a proven and unique learning destination taught by NYU Steinhardt, New School Songwriting faculty member and Berklee NYC consultant Billy Seidman. Past writers trained in the workshop’s “Advanced Song Craft Method”™ include… Read more...
5 Tips for Songwriting Success in Today’s Music Industry
I taught my first songwriting class at Los Angeles’ Pierce College in 1991. Back then, if my car radio were tuned to a pop station, it was likely I would hear chart-topping artists such as Michael Jackson, Wilson Phillips, Janet Jackson, Michael Bolton, Poison, and Roxette. During that same era, if… Read more...
What’s the most important part of a demo – the vocal or the production?
Just as genres are different, so are the musical elements that best support them on a demo. BMI’s Creative team listens to music all day every day. Here’s what they had to say about what makes them turn up the volume on a demo. MaryAnn Keen, Creative, Nashville (Country) Let’s… Read more...
BMI Bulletin Board: April ‘19
Workshops, conference, contest and festival opportunities for songwriters and composers. Read more...
The Perils of Overproduction
As we’ve often noted, giving everyone on the planet unbridled recording capability has had at least one significant downside—that is, never having to say never when it comes to piling on the takes. As a home recordist with a penchant for nitpicking when given the opportunity, for years I steered clear… Read more...
BMI Sponsors Groundbreaking Mixing Program at USC with Renowned Sound Engineer Dennis Sands
As part of The University of Southern California’s Scoring for Motion Picture & Television, a remarkable program overseen by Professor of Practice at USC Thornton School of Music, Dan Carlin that gives its students an edge in our competitive industry by providing the greater ability to communicate with audio professionals, BMI… Read more...