BMI recently sponsored an intimate concert from two-time Grammy Award winner Kacey Musgraves at the New York State Broadcaster’s Excellence in Broadcasting Dinner, held in conjunction with their Summer Conference at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. She performed several songs from her debut project Same Trailer, Different Park. The New York State Broadcasters Association represents interests of more than 300 television and radio stations throughout the Empire State.

Pictured (L-R): NYSBA Board Member and President/GM of WLIG-TV David Feinblatt, NASH- FM Retail Sales Manager Rick Morales, Kacey Musgraves, NYSBA Board Member and NASH- FM General Sales Manager Maire Mason and BMI’s Dan Spears.

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The Oak Ridge Boys were honored with an official RIAA commemorative plaque certifying more than 41 million in sales, including numerous Gold, Platinum and Multi-Platinum album and single certifications. A special presentation was made during the group’s appearance on The Wendy Williams Show.

The Oak Ridge Boys celebrate over 41 million sold

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The 41st Annual Music City Tennis Invitational 2014 presented $102,000 to the Center for Child Development at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. Founded in 1973 by Nashville music industry leaders, MCTI is the longest running music related charity tennis tournament in the country, and has raised over $1.5 million in proceeds from tournament player registrations, corporate sponsors, donors and songwriter showcases to benefit Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.

Pictured (L-R): MCTI Co-Chair Bill Riddle; MCTI Sponsor Chair Patsy Wells; MCTI Co-Chair Patsy Bradley; Director of the Center for Child Development Dr. Tyler Reimschisel; Luann Mayer Assistant Director of Community Development Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.

Randall Wixen founded Wixen Music Publishing in Los Angeles in 1978 as an alternative channel for publishing administration, copyright management, and royalty compliance review. With sister company Wixen Music UK Ltd. in London, the companies have administered the song catalogs of artists including George Harrison, The Doors, the Black Keys, Tom Petty and others. “Randall Wixen is that rare man of integrity in a business that I’m not gonna call crooked, but I’m not gonna call it anything else,” Petty has said.
Wixen is also the author of The Plain & Simple Guide to Music Publishing, which is now in its third edition (Hall Leonard). The book offers advice on protecting and profiting from music copyrights for the lay musician and/or songwriter, with enough substance to be helpful to those already in the business. Topics include the growing importance of streaming and subscription models, a discussion of new compulsory license media, the impact of copyright terminations and reversions, updated advice on current license prices, as well as all the basics of copyright and rights management.
Wixen offers 10 tips for songwriters at all stages in their careers:
1. Keep knocking on doors. The worst they can do is slam it in your face, and if they do, go onto the next one. Nothing happens if you don’t keep putting yourself out there.
2. Streaming is becoming more and more important. Even though it is really hard to make any significant money at it at this stage, make sure you’ve set up some sort of path for your money to reach you, either through an organization like NMPA/Harry Fox, or via a private company like AdRev.
3. Don’t make long-term or “perpetuity” deals. If you find you’ve made a mistake, you’d like it to expire someday.
4. Know the ins and outs of how copyright works and use it to your advantage. Take a course in copyright law or music publishing, or read and understand a good book on the subject. Otherwise you’ll end up with 10 co-writers you never met on a song that you and your brother wrote by yourselves.
5. Remember that music has a value. The intangible value of “exposure” has to be closely analyzed and weighed. Every time someone gives music for free, it just reinforces the idea that music has little or no value and makes it that much harder for you and other writers to get paid a fair amount for your work in the future. No one flips burgers for promotional value.
6. Keep a copy of everything you ever sign, and all your copyright forms and clearance confirmations. You’ll need them someday.
7. Don’t sign a deal with a publishing company or a manager because you “like them.” Sign a deal because of what they can do for you. You’re not looking for a friend (if you find one, that’s great), but rather for someone who can actually do something for you. Ask for references, and talk to them.
8. Don’t buy the Bentley. The wave ain’t gonna ride forever. Save some money for that age when your tattoos will look ridiculous.
9. Leave your ego at the door. All of your friends will love everything you do. Find people who will tell you the truth about your songs and seek their feedback.
10. Back into a co-write with a famous artist or writer that you meet. They get writer’s block too and would love to coast along on your brilliance. “Hey Mr. Superstar, I’ve written this amazing chorus, but I just can’t seem to come up with verses that work. Want to try and finish it for me?”
Wixen, a Los Angeles native, is a graduate of UCLA. He is also a freelance journalist with articles appearing in publications such as The Los Angeles Times, CMJ and New York Rocker.

The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) today released 2013 revenue data for the U.S. music publishing industry. Revenue across all income sources totaled $2.2 billion, but the organization estimates even more, $2.3 billion, was lost due to outdated copyright law and government regulations.
“We are finally able to capture what the industry is worth and, more importantly, what our industry is losing,” said David Israelite, NMPA President and CEO today at the organization’s annual meeting in New York City, where the data was revealed. “The new digital marketplace is changing how songwriters and their music publishing partners can thrive. As the marketplace evolves, it is essential our industry no longer be hamstrung by outdated laws and government regulation.”
For the first time in history, NMPA can quantify the total industry revenue and value through information collected from NMPA’s recent modernization program. The program requires music publishing members to provide revenue data and captures market share information. The total industry revenue is based on numbers reported to NMPA by its members for 2013. The lost revenue calculations are based on projected fair market value of the industry in the absence of government regulations.
Where the money comes from:
(according to NMPA)
Performance License, 52 percent: Public performance royalties are the largest income stream for songwriters and music publishers. While the performance right is not explicitly regulated by law, the Department of Justice imposed consent decrees on the performance rights organizations ASCAP and BMI in 1941, which are still in effect today.
Mechanical License, 23 percent: Section 115 of the Copyright Act imposes a compulsory license that dates back to 1909. As a result of this law, songwriters and music publishers are denied the right to negotiate the value of their intellectual property in a free market. For every song downloaded on iTunes, songwriters receive only 9.1 cents – the current rate set by the Copyright Royalty Board.
Sync License, 20 percent: Traditionally this has included using music in movies, television shows, and commercials. Newer forms of this right include music videos produced by record labels as well as user-generated content such as videos on YouTube. For songwriters and music publishers, this is a free market right not regulated by law or consent decrees.
Other, 5 percent: Examples include sheet music and lyric websites.