June/July ’12—On the Cover: BMI

Launched in 2011, the BMI Live program uses digital and mobile technology to distribute royalties for live performances of original music. In its first year, BMI Live paid thousands of performing songwriters, offering additional income to those facing the tough economic realities of gigs and touring. Thanks to BMI Live’s online platform and the sophisticated information technology structure beneath it, it is easy for songwriters to sign up and receive the royalties they’re owed.

To sign up for BMI Live, BMI members should log into the BMI Live section of bmi.com and register their set lists with the date and venue where they performed. Songwriters who have not yet affiliated with BMI should first go to www.bmi.com/join to register their songs with BMI. Both BMI and BMI Live are free to join.

“It’s easy to register your live shows on BMI.com – every independent artist should be taking advantage of this.” – Chancellor Warhol

“What BMI has done and continues to do, is find ways for performing writers/artists to receive compensation for their works in all avenues of performance. I am proud to be a part of such a team for 25 years now, and I remember all those years ago as a young writer I was treated the same way as I am now, with respect.” – Jeffrey Steele

“Getting paid? Sometimes it is hard. BMI Live helps us get paid for when we play our songs live even at medium to smaller venues. Every bit helps and am grateful that BMI has our back.” – Jessi Darlin / Those Darlins

“BMI Live has been a great tool for my artists, who are also writers, to be paid for the performances of their songs from touring. The extra income paid by BMI has helped cover expenses for my acts making it easier to invest in their touring business.” – Aaron Hartley, Manager / Caitlin Rose

“Touring is my passion and has always been the primary way I wanted to build my career.  I love that I get paid through BMI every time I play live!  Such an amazing program for independent, up and coming songwriters who want to spread their music through playing live.” – Allen Stone

“BMI Live is a great program for touring artists, especially the ones who aren’t playing arenas (yet).” – Ruthie Foster