March 12, 2013

BMI Songwriters and Publishers Em-‘Powered By’ New Positioning Campaign

Press Release

Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), the leading global music rights organization, announced various new technical upgrades and highlighted its new corporate positioning campaign today at a “Powered By” focused press briefing at the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) Music Festival in Austin. The new positioning campaign was kicked-off in January to reinforce BMI’s industry leadership, strategy and heritage.  Powered By is one of the key message platforms and slogans from the campaign representing BMI’s enduring commitment to innovation, bringing its songwriters, composers, publishers and licensees cutting-edge technologies to manage their music and their music use.

“Powered By reflects BMI’s focus on innovation and its ability to power or license establishments and digital platforms with music of all genres,” said Richard Conlon, Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Communications & New Media for BMI.  “During this evolutionary time in the industry, BMI has a diversified business model and strategic vision that has continued to adapt and address the new challenges while embracing new opportunities to broaden our business portfolio. Our new campaign signals BMI’s fast embrace of this industry evolution.”

BMI announced developments to the BMI Live program, which allows BMI’s performing songwriters to get paid for live performances of their music in any size venue.  Effective January 22, 2013, BMI revamped the program making it easier for writers to input their playlists online and find out immediately if the venue they entered is licensed in order to be paid for the performance.  Since 2011, the program has enabled thousands of songwriters, who never before received royalties to apply for them and get paid regardless of whether they had airplay. The functionality of the BMI Live program has also been improved as a result of enhancements to BMI Mobile, which now enable BMI writers to more quickly and easily access and manage their BMI related business needs on an iPhone, iPad or Android mobile device.

“The advances to BMI Live and BMI Mobile services underscore BMI’s philosophy of making sure creators are recognized and paid for their creative works. These technical upgrades reaffirm our commitment to supporting our writers and publishers by improving their online experience with dynamic member services,” said Jim King, Senior Vice President of Business Operations & Technology for BMI.

BMI held a press briefing at SXSW to highlight the new corporate developments and enhancements, before BMI’s annual Howdy Texas showcase at Stubb’s BBQ. The briefing featured not only BMI executives, but also a top-earning BMI affiliate who has benefited from the innovation and accessibility of BMI Live and Mobile.

“BMI Live has impacted my career in a positive way by paying me for live performances in venues I never received royalties from previously,” said songwriter and BMI Live top earner Granger Smith.

The Powered By commitment is a natural progression of BMI’s advanced ability to promote the creative ecosystem between songwriters and the businesses that use their music. The Powered By tag line is one part of BMI’s new corporate positioning campaign which includes two other key campaign messages: Write On and Valuing Music Since 1939. To substantiate the Company’s continuing focus on technology to improve its members’ and customers’ experience of its services, BMI was honored in 2012 by placement in InformationWeek’s list of the top 500 technology innovators for the second year in a row.

BMI is hosting other key events throughout SXSW 2013, including panels and showcases highlighting the talent and expertise of BMI affiliates and executives. Visit bmi.com/sxsw for upcoming full schedules, and follow @BMI on Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates.

Broadcast Music, Inc. (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 more than 7.5 million musical works created and owned by more than 550,000 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.

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Media Contacts:

Leah Luddine, BMI
212-220-3142
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Jamil Walker, BMI
212-220-3143
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