bmi
The PRO business is booming! But could it become a victim of its own success?
For the 75 years after the 1939 founding of BMI, the U.S. had three organizations that collected public performance royalties for songs on behalf of composers and publishers: ASCAP, SESAC and BMI. And for much of that time — from the 1950s, when ASCAP and BMI expanded into all genres, to 1993, when a group of investors purchased SESAC — the competition might best be described as gentlemanly. ASCAP and BMI became the Coke and Pepsi of PROs, licensing similar rights, for different songs, to similar bars, restaurants, concert venues and television and radio stations. The privately owned SESAC was less aggressive than it is now.
Some licensees want to set the clock back to that simpler time. They may have inspired members of Congress to ask the Copyright Office to look into the subject, which resulted in a Notice of Inquiry and then a flood of comments. (Billboard has a guide here.) To understand why, and what this means, it helps to realize how much U.S. performance rights licensing has changed in the last decade.
In 2013, Irving Azoff, ever the disruptor, founded GMR, which like SESAC — owned by the investment group Blackstone since 2017 — signs big songwriters with big advances. Unlike ASCAP and BMI, which are more constrained by antitrust consent decrees and allow all songwriters to join, GMR and SESAC are free to cherry-pick from the most popular. (All four have big writers; GMR and SESAC just don’t have small ones.) With fewer writers, they are thought to bring in more money per performance of a song. They are also thought to be wildly profitable: A recent deal for a stake in GMR valued the company at $3.3 billion. Any business that good attracts competition, and two new PROs have emerged over the last five years: AllTrack, founded by former SESAC board member Hayden Bower; and the Florida-based PRO Music Rights.
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Things got complicated. Venues that had once received three bills for their use of music were suddenly getting five or six. Most knew they needed rights from what we might call the big four — and let’s pause for a moment to consider just how weird it is that the U.S. now has more established PROs than major labels — but some weren’t sure if they needed the rights controlled by AllTrack and PRO Music Rights. Costs went up — with the possibility of future increases — and let’s not kid ourselves that this is the real issue here.
Both the Notice of Inquiry and the responses to it are fascinating because, as several executives pointed out to me, this isn’t an issue that the Copyright Office — or even government regulation in general — seems especially well-suited to solve. The Copyright Office administers and consults on intellectual property law, and licensees presumably see the NOI as an opening move in a push for legislation that could constrain PROs — or even empower a government body to set royalty rates, as one does for mechanical rights. That would be a disaster for publishers and songwriters, which get their only negotiating power from performing rights. And licensees have much more lobbying power than the music business, simply because every Congressional district has bars and restaurants, while the music business is relatively concentrated in a few cities.
What, exactly, is the problem here? Look at the NOI, which sets out two very different issues: “The number of PROs in the United States has expanded in recent years, potentially undermining licensing efficiencies” and “PROs do not all disclose comprehensive information concerning the works that are covered by their licenses, and their royalty distribution practices and policies.” The only thing these issues have in common is that neither of them is really a matter for copyright law.
The idea that there are too many PROs is odd because for years the issue was that ASCAP and BMI had too much market power — hence the antitrust consent decrees. In legal terms, this is known as trying to have it both ways. Competition is a good thing, as long as it’s fair. If it’s not, that’s a matter for competition law — which traditionally champions competition! — not copyright.
One of the real issues behind the NOI is that it can be hard to tell which PRO controls what rights. This can be complicated, though, and the issues often have less to do with concealing information than with presenting it in an accessible way. AllTrack, which is focused on the independent market, allows potential licensees to search a database of songs to which it controls rights, but that requires looking up specific compositions. The site displays far more prominently some of the artists who play songs to which AllTrack owns at least some rights, including Billy Ray Cyrus, Elle King and No Doubt. In smaller type, underneath, it says that “The artists above are examples, but not an all inclusive list, of performers of AllTrack music” — and in most, but not all, cases it doesn’t control rights to all these artists’ songs, let alone their rights as songwriters. Billboard readers understand this, but it might drive the average bar owner to drink.
PRO Music Rights is even more controversial. It seems to focus on serving smaller songwriters in the so-called long tail, and it says it controls rights to more than 2 million works, including songs performed by A$AP Rocky, Wiz Khalifa and others. It is unclear how popular many of those songs are, though, and both the ASCAP and BMI responses to the NOI challenge its business practices more directly than those of AllTrack. In its filing, ASCAP says that in 2018 it discovered millions of songs registered by PRO Music Rights “that were apparently either computer-generated sounds or merely random titles” and BMI’s response points out that Spotify in a court filing accused PRO Music Rights founder Jake Noch of flooding its platform with AI music, although the case in question subsequently settled. (PRO Music Rights filed its own response to the NOI that accuses the established PROs of engaging in “anti-competitive practices.”)
The other side of transparency is that it’s not always clear how some PROs distribute some of the money they collect. But it seems hard to believe that licensees really worry about this — most just want to pay less — and that issue is really between PROs and creators and publishers. (Alas, Billboard advertisers seldom ask about the compensation of the publication’s witty and dashing “Follow the Money” columnist.) The best way to address this — maybe the only way to address it in a lasting way — could be a competitive market. Big songwriters who think that the big PROs don’t serve them well can sign with SESAC or GMR, although not all of them do. Why shouldn’t smaller ones have more options as well?
Like every other issue in the music business, this is ultimately about money — rightsholders want to charge more and licensees want to pay less. That’s business. And it seems best to keep it as business, without getting the government involved.
Back in September, the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to the Register of Copyrights, Shira Perlmutter, requesting the examination of “concerns” and “emerging issues” with U.S. performance rights organizations (PROs). More specifically, the Committee expressed concerns about the alleged “lack of transparency” with PROs and the so-called “proliferation” of new PROs in the market.
So early this year the U.S. Copyright Office opened a notice of inquiry that allowed licensors and licensees to submit a comment and weigh in about whether or not they like the way that the U.S. PRO system works today.
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The inquiry has become one of the most important issues facing the music publishing sector this year, and it’s one that is especially sensitive, given mechanical royalties and the majority of performance royalties (for those signed to ASCAP or BMI) in the U.S. are not negotiated in a free market — a common complaint amongst publishers, PROs and songwriters. The idea that this inquiry could bring additional scrutiny or inspire Congress to pursue additional regulation to performance royalties in the future has become a stress point. Those who have to license music through PROs, however, believe that the system has grown to be too complicated and too expensive and a renewed conversation about reform is needed. (For more background, read Billboard’s explainer here).
The comment period ended on Friday (April 11), and the 12,344 comments were released on Monday (April 14). Since then, Billboard has been reviewing the comments submitted by key groups and individuals — like publishers, songwriters, venues, restaurants and, of course, the PROs themselves.
Here is a guide to those comments.
What did the PROs say?
Of the six U.S. PROs, five of them — ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, GMR and PRO Music Rights (PMR) — submitted comments to the Copyright Office. AllTrack, one of the two new entrants to the market along with PMR, did not.
ASCAP: American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers, one of the two U.S. PROs that operates under a consent decree and the only one operating on a not-for-profit basis, wrote that “American songwriters, composers and music publishers are some of the most heavily regulated business owners in the country.” The organization then called the complaints about “lack of transparency” “particularly disingenuous,” pointing out that ASCAP has already invested significant resources into its public repertory database, called Songview, which it shares with BMI, “and yet little evidence suggests these licensees ever use that information.” Plus, ASCAP says that “distribution” of royalties “should be decided between music creators and their chosen PROs, not by licensees or government entities.” They note that “further regulation of ASCAP and its members would “harm music creators.”
ASCAP also pushed back on the idea of rising costs for licensees: “The market for musical compositions continues to grow year over year, as does the volume of copyrighted music,” it said. “It is nonsensical, and contrary to the foundational principles of a free market, that licensees could obtain permission to use more and more music each year without a corresponding increase in what they pay for it.”
It also pointed to the emergence of DIY distributors like DistroKid and Tunecore, private equity’s increasing interest in music as an “asset class,” and technology lowering barriers to entry as reasons why new PROs have emerged. ASCAP then cast doubt on PMR’s catalog, saying, “We discovered copyright registrations for literally millions of ‘musical works’ that were apparently either computer-generated sounds or merely random titles.” Read the full comment here.
BMI: Broadcast Music Inc., the second of the PROs in the U.S. that operate under a consent decree, said in its comments that additional regulation of PROs would harm songwriters and composers and that licensees called for this inquiry “with the goal of further reducing licensing fees at the expense of songwriters, composers and music publishers that depend on them.” In addressing licensees’ accusations that PROs lack transparency, BMI said it “rejects” the idea that these so-called issues “have any impact on a licensee’s obligation to compensate copyright owners for the use of copyrighted works,” though BMI added that it “is confident that [it] succeed[s] in this effort.”
It wrote, however, that AllTrack and PMG, “in stark contrast” to BMI, “make little information readily available regarding the contents of their repertoires.” BMI continued to cast doubt on PMR, writing that evidence suggests “that [PMR] greatly overtates its relative share of copyrighted and performed works… it is unclear whether certain of the results in [PMR’s] search function are even authentic musical works,” later adding that Spotify alleged that PMR’s founder, Jake Noch, “‘flood[ed] online streaming services with large quantities of’ AI-generated music.” Read the full comment here.
GMR: Global Music Rights, an invite-only PRO founded in 2013 for “top-tier songwriters,” said that it believes “the competitive [PRO] marketplace fostered by the four major PROs (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and GMR)” “ensure[s]” that music creators and publishers are “fairly compensated.” It also stated that “some of the entities that are now appealing to the Office to intercede…are themselves not licensed by GMR, yet continue to use GMR’s music.” The organization also cited its differences from other PROs, saying that it offers “an identical rate card to all of its clients” and “individualized service, increased transparency, and enhanced economic terms” that songwriters allegedly couldn’t find in the “incumbent PROs.”
GMR also took shots at AllTrack and PMR, saying they “appear to be contrary to the customs and practices of the four major PROs.” “A PRO that offers no threshold level of transparency and is paired with a repertoire that is largely devoid of any meaningful value to any licensee is deeply problematic,” GMR wrote. “Coupled with attempts to take advantage of small businesses by relentlessly threatening litigation while failing to provide music users with insight into the repertoires that they represent, such a PRO should certainly be subject to further inquiry.” Read the full comment here.
PMR: Pro Music Rights wrote that the more established PROs have engaged in “anti-competitive practices” and have tried to box PMR out of the market. The organization also claimed that “BMI’s board — despite publicly disparaging Pro Music Rights — approved confidential discussions about selling BMI to Music Licensing, Inc., culminating in meetings with Goldman Sachs.” They proposed a number of reforms, including “mandated transparency” and “uniform licensing fees” so that “every voice in music, from small establishments to major corporations, is treated with fairness and respect.” Read the full comment here.
SESAC: Society of European stage Authors and Composers, the second-oldest PRO in the U.S. and the first for-profit player, said that maintaining “freedom of choice” for publishers, songwriters and composers was important in the U.S. PRO marketplace, forcing the PROs to “adjust or modif[y]” their operations “when [members] raise concerns.” SESAC noted that it has a publicly available database to search through their works and that they are more concerned that “nearly 70% of restaurants and over 90% of bars remain exempted” from paying royalties to PROs. SESAC also noted that ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and GMR are “currently exploring the inclusion of SESAC and GMR data to enhance Songview’s reconciled view of copyright ownership information” for increased transparency.
And SESAC pointed out that there are multiple ways to license music without using a PRO at all, including easy-to-license song libraries Mood Media, Soundtrack Your Brand and more. Read the full comment here.
What did the publishers say?
Publishers work with the U.S. PROs every day to ensure they are getting properly compensated for public performances. Some top publishers, like UMPG, opted not to submit comments. Those that did typically aligned closely with the stance also expressed by the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) (which counts the vast majority of U.S. publishers as members), implying that the top publishers — major and indie — are fairly unified in their stance.
NMPA: The NMPA’s comment called the inquiry a “thinly veiled attempt by licensees to reduce the already depressed rates they pay” for performance royalties and called for Congress and the Copyright office to “take such claims skeptically.”
Instead, the NMPA advocated, as it often has, for “unregulated music licensing markets” and said that “musical works copyrights are already significantly undervalued…due to overregulation.”
The NMPA believes that the “creation of new PROs…is an indication of a competitive marketplace…which improves PRO performance for their members.” The NMPA said that it is “disingenuous [to] characterize the growth of the PRO market as a negative development…In reality an increase in licensing costs is an inevitable outcome of a growing market…Requiring licensees to pay fairly for the music that they use is not the systematic injustice that licensees portray; it is simply the cost of operating a business built on performing music someone else wrote.” Read the full comment here.
Warner Chappell: Warner Chappell raised in its comment that it would like to have the ability of “selective withdrawal of digital rights” from PROs’ blanket license. This resurrects a hot button issue that divided publishers and PROs dating back to 2013. The same idea was brought up again in 2019 and has previously been supported by the NMPA, the three major publishers and many of the biggest indies. Read the full comment here.
The selective withdrawal of digital rights from the PROs would basically mean publishers could still use the PROs’ services for the general licensing of bars, restaurants, venues and more, but that publishers could negotiate directly with digital services like Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora or iHeartRadio, cutting out any fees associated with royalties first going through the PROs before reaching publishers and allowing for global, not U.S.-specific, deals. But this would mean more work for the publishers, given there’s a large number of digital services beyond just the streaming and digital radio giants.
In the past, raising this point has also raised other, much less welcomed, ideas, like a 100 percent licensing system (meaning licensees only need a license from one of the songwriters on a song instead of all of them, as they have to do today, a system referred to as “fractional licensing”). Plus, it would be a seismic shift for the U.S. PROs, which have been investing in developing complex systems for digital royalty collection over the years. More background information is available on that issue in Billboard’s past coverage here.
Sony Music Publishing: SMP’s comments largely echoed the NMPA’s comments, saying that “SMP believes that less and not more regulation is not only good for songwriters but also a sensible pro-competitive approach where the true value of musical compositions is determined in a free market.” Read the full comment here.
What did the licensees say?
Licensees, such as clubs, bars and restaurants, are thought to have kicked off this inquiry in the first place. And the fact that they exist in every political jurisdiction in the U.S. likely gives them more political power than the music business, which lives mostly in clusters around New York, Los Angeles and Nashville.
National Restaurant Association: This organization said that the “emergence and proliferation of new PROs” has “jeopardized” the “efficacy of the U.S. music licensing system” “to the detriment of small business restaurant operators across the nation” and pointed the finger specifically at “recent” PROs such as GMR, PMR and AllTrack. The restaurants say they could face “costly litigation” if they accidentally play an unlicensed song. To date, the association found that its members pay “just shy of $4,500 on average to license music on an annual basis, which represents upwards of nearly 0.5 percent of the average U.S. small business restaurant’s total annual sales … for an industry that runs on an average pre-tax margin of 3 percent to 5 percent, this cost is significant.” The organization proposed three key solutions: requiring PROs to create centralized databases of their performance data; allowing establishments to receive itemized statements of works licensed from PROs upon request; and “a public registry of PROs that also summarizes what portions of the music industry they represent.” Read the full comment here.
Fox Theater: The famous Atlanta theater said in its comment that AllTrack and Pro Music Rights’ attempts to collect licensing fees are “redundant” and “create a significant financial burden” on venues. The theater also accused PROs of “routinely rely[ing] on trade magazines to determine artist appearance schedules, rather than actual reports submitted by the venue. This often leads to incorrect invoices submitted by PROs, which leads to countless hours of administrative work.” The Fox Theater suggested that “PROs should be required to undergo public audits…to ensure that they are not routinely overbilling licensees.” Read the full comment here.
International Association of Venue Managers: This organization pointed to the complexity of licensing music when many songwriters and many PROs are involved. “Venues often find themselves paying high fees without understanding what rights they are actually securing,” the comment read. The organization suggested a few changes to the US PRO system, including a publicly accessible and legally reliable database; that PROs should be required to update and maintain the database; the establishment of a federal registration system for PROs; mandated itemized statements upon request from licensees; and ensuring rate-setting processes reflect the PROs’ market share. Read the full comment here.
What did the songwriters and independent advocates say?
Songwriters and independent advocates in the music business have long advocated for change — often taking even greater swings than the industry establishment and calling out issues too political for music companies to touch in their advocacy. They are all also known for centering songwriters in their efforts, but still — that doesn’t mean everyone in this grouping holds the same ideas about how to effect positive change in music.
Songwriters of North America: SONA, a songwriter organization founded in 2015, said that it “does not believe that any aspect of this requires action from any regulatory or legislative body regarding copyright. We believe that any existing issues can and should be handled outside of the purview of the U.S. government and can be solved within the industry itself.” The organization also said it “recognizes the concerns from licensees” about the so-called “proliferation” of PROs, but “SONA does not take an official stance in regards to this issue.” Read the comment here.
Artist Rights Institute, North Music Group, Blake Morgan: led by songwriter David Lowery, songwriter Blake Morgan, attorney Chris Castle and North Music Group founder Abby North, the group wrote a comment, that said, “We are apprehensive that the subtext of the NOI is the justification of yet another compulsory license for songwriters,” calling them “among the most regulated workers in America.” The comment also likened PROs to “representative bodies for independent contractors who lack the protections afford by traditional labor unions,” and while they are not actual unions, “PROs serve a crucial function by negotiating…on behalf of their members.” Without this, the commenters believe indies would be more “vulnerable.” Among their proposed solutions is the idea of a “localized PRO at the city level,” royalty auditing of the PROs, and allowing songwriters to do “partial withdrawals” to manage some of their rights outside of the PRO. For a full explanation of these ideas, read the comment here.
Songwriters Guild of America / Society of Composers and Lyricists / Music Creators of North America: This comment noted that “the independent music creator community agrees without reservation that maintenance of the competitive PRO collective licensing system in the US as described above (including its ‘fractional licensing’ structure) is essential.” In response to licensees’ complaints about there being too many PROs, SGA/MCNA/SCL said these complaints are “a renewed effort by users to invent new, unfounded, inconvenience-based excuses for royalty payment-avoidance supported by no reasonable motivation other than generation of windfall user profits.” Read the comment here.
Atticus Ross will receive the BMI Icon Award at the 41st annual BMI Film, TV and Visual Media Awards on May 14 in Beverly Hills, Calif. The ceremony will also salute the composers of the previous year’s top-grossing films, top-rated primetime network television series, and highest-ranking cable and streamed media programs. The event will be hosted by Mike O’Neill, BMI president and CEO,and Tracy McKnight, BMI VP, Creative, Film, TV & Visual Media.
Previous BMI Icon Award recipients include Terence Blanchard, Mychael Danna, Alexandre Desplat, Ramin Djawadi, Harry Gregson-Williams, James Newton Howard, Christopher Lennertz, Thomas Newman, Rachel Portman (PRS), Mike Post, Alan Silvestri, Brian Tyler and John Williams.
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“Atticus Ross’ unique ability to merge innovative sounds with cinematic storytelling has left an indelible mark on the industry, and we’re thrilled to recognize his extraordinary talent and achievements with the BMI Icon Award,” McKnight said in a statement.
Ross, 57, is best-known for his longstanding collaboration with Trent Reznor. They have composed some of the most memorable film scores of the past 15 years, including The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Gone Girl, Soul (a collaboration with Jon Batiste), Mank, Queer and Challengers. Reznor and Ross have won two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, three Golden Globe Awards and three Critics Choice Awards.
Their work in television includes Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s lauded 18-hour documentary The Vietnam War and their Primetime Emmy-winning score to HBO’s Watchmen. (Reznor and Ross are just a Tony Award away from EGOT status.)
Ross is also notable for his collaborations with his brother Leopold Ross and his wife Claudia Sarne. Most recently, his work on FX’s Shōgun alongside Leopold and co-composer Nick Chuba garnered much acclaim, including two Primetime Emmy nominations and a Grammy nomination.
Ross is also a key member of Nine Inch Nails, joining in 2016, alongside Reznor. In 2020, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (with Iggy Pop doing the honors). Later this year, the band will embark on a sold-out global arena tour. They are also set to score Disney’s highly anticipated Tron: Ares, their first score under the Nine Inch Nails moniker. In addition to their musical endeavors, Ross and Reznor launched With Teeth, which encompasses film and TV production, products, and a music festival.
Ross has won 19 BMI Awards throughout his career for his scores on films and TV programs.
Two new members were inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Hall of Fame on Tuesday (April 8): BMI singer/songwriter John Oates (in radio) and the National Football League, or NFL (in TV). The inductions were the highlight of a dinner at Encore in Las Vegas that was jointly presented by BMI and the NAB.
The event marked the end of BMI’s run hosting the dinner, with plans for NAB to continue the Hall of Fame tradition moving forward.
Oates, who first signed with BMI in 1972, was inducted into the NAB Radio Hall of Fame for his contributions to American radio, chiefly as the co-founder of Daryl Hall & John Oates, one of the most successful duos in music history. Hall & Oates amassed 16 top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 — including seven that Oates co-wrote — including “Sara Smile,” “She’s Gone,” “You Make My Dreams,” “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do),” “Maneater,” “Adult Education” and “Out of Touch.”
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Oates had previously received the BMI Icon Award and the BMI Troubadour Award. He has also received 10 BMI Pop Awards and 30 BMI Million-Air Awards for his songs’ repeated airplay. In addition, as a member of Hall & Oates, he received five Grammy nominations and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.
In accepting the award, Oates thanked the NAB for the honor and talked about the importance of radio in his life, sharing that the music played on the stations he listened to growing up was “indelibly printed on my soul, my mind, and it’s the music that made me. I owe everything to radio.” He then performed six songs: the Hall & Oates hits “Out of Touch” and “She’s Gone;” three solo songs, including “A Ways Away,” from an album slated for release later this year; and a rendition of the 1954 Ray Charles classic, “I Got a Woman.”
The NFL was inducted into the NAB Television Hall of Fame for its pioneering influence on sports broadcasting, from its early days to its role as a cultural powerhouse today. Since the first televised NFL game in 1939, the league has consistently broken barriers in the broadcasting world.
Rich Eisen, NFL Network broadcaster and host of The Rich Eisen Show, accepted the award on behalf of the NFL, acknowledging the league’s far-reaching impact on sports broadcasting and TV culture. A video produced by NFL Films was shown, highlighting the NFL’s journey in TV history, leading into Eisen’s acceptance speech and a video message from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
On BMI’s last time hosting what has become a highlight of the NAB Show, BMI CEO/president Mike O’Neill said, “In celebration of 75 amazing years, I can think of no better time or way to preserve the tradition of this evening than for BMI to hand it over to our incredible partners from the start, the NAB. We believe that the broadcasting industry and the creative community will always enrich one another, and BMI is honored to facilitate that vital relationship long into the future.”
Benson Boone will receive the BMI Champion Award at the 2025 BMI Pop Awards on May 13 at the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills, Calif. Previous recipients include Peso Pluma, SZA, Jonathan McReynolds, Khalid, Mark Ronson, Residente, Sebastian Krys and Keith Urban.
The annual, private event will be hosted by Mike O’Neill, BMI president & CEO, Barbara Cane, VP, Worldwide Creative; Samantha Cox, VP, Creative, NY; and Tracie Verlinde, VP, Creative, LA. BMI’s pop song of the year, songwriter of the year, publisher of the year and BMI’s 50 most-performed pop songs in the U.S. of the previous year will also be named.
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“Benson Boone has reshaped the global soundscape of culture and music with an indomitable spirit and love of craft, artistry, and performance,” Cane said in a statement. “As one of today’s most exciting hitmakers, Benson inspires through his honest storytelling which is ignited by his passion and authenticity.”
Boone’s Warner Records debut album, Fireworks & Rollerblades, this week marks its one-year anniversary on the Billboard 200. The album debuted and peaked at No. 6. It spawned the smash “Beautiful Things” (No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100) and hit follow-up “Slow It Down” (No. 32). Boone’s current single, “Sorry I’m Here for Someone Else” which has so far reached No. 44, will be featured on Boone’s sophomore album, due this summer.
Boone, now 22, won his first BMI Pop Award in 2023 for “Ghost Town.”
On Feb. 2, Boone performed “Beautiful Things” on the Grammy Awards, where he was a best new artist nominee – and inadvertently went viral when he adjusted his tight and restricting jumpsuit on camera. On March 1, he was nominated for international artist of the year and best international song at the Brit Awards.
Boone’s awards wins in recent months include best alternative at MTV’s Video Music Awards, best new at the MTV Europe Music Awards, top Billboard Global 200 song and top Billboard Global 200 (excl. U.S.) song at the Billboard Music Awards and song of the year at the iHeartRadio Music Awards.
BMI is making a two-fold move to help music creators improve their career and lifestyle opportunities. First off, the PRO has created Spark, a program that will offer creators special discounts on music creation and technology tools while also providing educational content and health and wellness resources. Secondly, BMI will no longer charge an application […]
Welcome to Executive Turntable, Billboard’s weekly compendium of promotions, hirings, exits and firings — and all things in between — across the music business.
Earlier this week, we released our annual rankings of the music industry’s top executives, however, Thursday brought the shocking news of the passing of one those honorees. Ben Vaughn, president and CEO of Warner Chappell Nashville, died Thursday of undisclosed causes at only 49. “The music community has lost a truly extraordinary executive and human being,” said Troy Tomlinson, chairman and CEO of rival UMPG Nashville.
Read on for this week’s updates.
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Alison Smith, longtime executive vp and chief distribution and publisher relations officer at BMI, announced her retirement after nearly 40 years with the company. Starting in 1985 on a temporary assignment in Nashville, Smith’s career at BMI has evolved through multiple departments, ultimately overseeing all domestic and international royalty distribution and administration services for over 1.3 million affiliated songwriters, composers and music publishers. She’s been based in New York since 1987 and will officially step down at the end of March. In her announcement to colleagues, Smith expressed her deep affection for the PRO and said her decision leaned heavily on wanting to spend more time with family and friends. She pointed out the fact she spent her entire career at BMI “says everything about our company, the people, and our mission to support, guide and protect our songwriters, composers and publishers,” adding, “music has always been my passion and will continue to be, and I know BMI will always be a shining star in this business.” Among her numerous industry accolades, Smith was recognized as one of Billboard’s Women in Music for two consecutive years in 2018 and 2019, and again in 2023.
BMI president and CEO Mike O’Neill commended Smith’s significant contributions to both BMI and the wider music community. He also announced that Smith will serve as a strategic advisor for the next two years, with Shouvik Das, svp of distribution, publisher relations & administration services, assuming her responsibilities and reporting directly to him.
“I have known Alison since I began working at BMI 30 years ago, and she has been a colleague, partner, advisor and friend to me every day that I have been here,” O’Neill said. “Alison is part of the fabric of BMI, and she has helped us become the company we are today. She has touched so many lives in an indelible way, not just internally at BMI but also within the larger music community. She will be missed.”
Meanwhile…
Universal Music Publishing Group welcomed Jamie Kinelski as the publisher’s new senior vice president of A&R, reporting to evp and head of U.S. A&R, Jennifer Knoepfle. Based in New York, Kinelski will focus on signing, developing and mentoring songwriters, artists and producers while helping expand UMPG’s U.S. A&R team. Kinelski previously served as senior vp and head of West Coast creative at Kobalt, where she signed and developed artists like Rogét Chahayed, Cuco, and Father John Misty. She also built key partnerships with Heavy Duty Publishing and 88Rising. Before Kobalt, she was creative director at ASCAP, working with artists such as Big Sean and HAIM. Knoepfle praised Kinelski’s leadership and “fierce” advocacy for songwriters, calling her a “tremendous asset to the dynamic and fresh executive team we are building,” adding, “her vast publishing and leadership experience will be extremely valuable to our company’s continued growth.”
Concord promoted Jonathan Eby to executive vp of information systems and technology. Eby will continue to be based in Concord’s Nashville office, and will oversee the company’s global technology, including infrastructure, development and strategy across all of Concord’s business areas. Eby joined Concord in 2017, and previously served as COO of classical music distributor/label Naxos. –Jessica Nicholson
NASHVILLE NOTES: Former CAA music agent Sabrina Butera launched the artist and influencer management company Collide Talent, offering a full-service platform for artists, influencers and entrepreneurs. The company’s initial roster includes country artist Austin Snell, whom she rep’d at CAA, and DIBS Beauty co-founder Courtney Shields … 615 Leverage + Strategy relaunched as Results Global with its existing partners, chief marketing officer John Zarling and COO Jackie Campbell, remaining atop the organization’s structure. The team, which counts Dolly Parton as its largest client, also includes brands account director Alissa Endres, manager of talent projects and music marketing Dawson Simmons, account coordinator Aden Henke, creative director Frashier Baudry and media planner and strategist Lauren Miskella … Business management firm O’Neil Hagaman added principal Rick Myers. He spent the last three years as Big Machine Label Group svp of finance and IT.
Joseph Morrison and Amy Hart, veterans of Eliot Grainge’s 10K Projects, teamed up with tech entrepreneur Scott Lewis to launch prairy (prairy.xyz), a remote-only label focused on speed in closing deals and servicing artist needs. The prairy team is strategically located across the U.S. and Canada, including Los Angeles, Nashville, New York and Atlanta. Operating without a physical office, prairy uses a San Francisco venture-style model that emphasizes speed, iteration and flexibility. The label has already signed a diverse roster of artists, including Dylan Espeseth, .idk., Ri Wavey, Nicole Amoroso, yurms and has partnerships with TRENCH HOUSE and others. Lewis emphasizes prairy’s commitment to operational agility, saying the “system is broken, and we think there’s a better way. The music industry is accustomed to schedules set by the month – we prefer to get things done in days, not weeks.”
BOARD SHORTS: The MLC appointed four new members to its advisory committees. Jennifer Falco of Hipgnosis Songs Group joins the Dispute Resolution Committee, while Iwona Wyrzykowska of Universal Music Publishing Group, Jessica Richling O’Malley of Warner Chappell Music, and Kristina Johnson of Kobalt Music have been named to the Operations Advisory Committee … NAMM elected eight new board members to three-year terms during its 2025 Show. The newly elected board members are Mayumi Allison, Betty Bennett, Jenna Day, Jeremiah Manriquez, Tim Pratt, Thomas Ripsam, Tom Tedesco and Hans Thomann … The Worldwide Independent Network held aboard meeting on Jan. 23, confirming Zena White and Maria Amato for a third term as chair and treasurer, respectively. New members include Felippe Llerena as director, with Cecilia Crespo and Ian Harrison joining as observers. Tony Kiewel transitioned from observer to director. Outgoing members Alejandro Varela, Sandra Rodrigues and Garry West were thanked for their contributions. A full list of WIN board members is here.
ShopKeeper Management, founded by Marion Kraft in 2009, promoted Crystal Dishmon to co-manager of Miranda Lambert alongside Kraft, while continuing to manage Tenille Townes. Dishmon, with extensive industry experience, including senior roles at AEG and Dale Morris, has been with ShopKeeper since 2010. Additionally, Laura Spinelli has been promoted to day-to-day manager for Lambert and continues as digital marketing manager. Spinelli has led innovative marketing campaigns and brand partnerships during her nearly decade-long tenure at ShopKeeper. Based in Nashville, ShopKeeper represents Lambert, Townes and Pistol Annies. The promotions highlight ShopKeeper’s commitment to mentorship and empowering female leaders in the music industry.
Ross Anderson, a former Warner Music communications executive, has launched Dept. of Connection, a New York-based PR agency focused on helping next-gen artists and brands build lasting cultural connections. The agency’s celestial roster includes Deafheaven and Superheaven, no relation, with more projects t/b/a soon. Anderson previously served as vp of public relations at Elektra Entertainment, leading campaigns for Turnstile, Slipknot, Gojira, Twenty One Pilots and more, until his departure in September of last year. He began his career at Atlantic Records in 2007, working his way up to vp. You can reach Ross here.
Rough Bones, a boutique label based in London, launched a new office in Lagos, Nigeria, to expand into the Afrobeat genre. Leading the office is senior A&R exec Jeffrey Onuoha, operations manager Daisy Ogunlana, digital strategist Eskor Umo, and A&R rep Samuel Mark.
Indie distributor IDOL appointed Camille Floch as international marketing and label services coordinator. Floch, previously a label manager at [PIAS], will work under Constance de Bosredon, promoted to head of international, marketing and label services in 2024. In comments, De Bosredon welcomed Floch and highlighted IDOL’s commitment to labels and artists. IDOL also announced this week that it has partnered with Mexican Summer and Dom Recs for global digital distribution, marketing and audience development.
ALL IN THE FAMILY: Former Billboard-er Andrew Hampp is now managing director of music and consumer partnerships at Variety. Since joining the PMC publication in 2022, he has created partnership opportunities with brands like TikTok, Sony Audio and Cash App. Hampp’s priors in the branding space include founding 1803 LLC, where he consulted for clients across media, advertising and music, and a two-and-a-half year tenure as vp at MAC Presents. In a past life, Hampp was Billboard’s senior correspondent, covering branding, sponsorships and tech during much of the 2010s.
ICYMI:
David Field
Warner Records upped Mike Chester to general manager … Arwen Hunt will lead Various Artists Management‘s new office in Australia … AEG promoted Adam Wilkes to president/CEO of AEG Presents, Europe and Asia-Pacific and elevated Alex Hill to president/CEO of AEG International … Wasserman Music hired five key executives … David Field stepped down as president/CEO of Audacy … Katie Welle is now head of U.S. A&R at SMP … Eve Konstan is out as Spotify‘s general counsel … and the longtime president of the Kennedy Center is passing the torch. [Cont.]
Last Week’s Turntable: WMG Changes Things Up in Hong Kong
Country group Alabama frontman Randy Owen will be celebrated as a BMI Icon during the upcoming 72nd annual BMI Country Awards slated for Nov. 19 in Nashville.
The accolade recognizes Owen’s prolific songwriting and significant contributions to country music. The invitation-only BMI Country Awards will be held at the BMI Nashville office and hosted by BMI president/CEO Mike O’Neill and BMI’s Nashville VP of creative Clay Bradley.
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“Randy Owen’s impact on country music is immeasurable, and his songwriting has left an undeniable mark on the genre,” Bradley said in a statement. “His talents have solidified Alabama as one of the most successful country bands of all time, and his memorable melodies and relatable lyrics continue to influence countless artists that follow in his footsteps. We are honored to present him with this year’s BMI Icon Award.”
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The BMI icon award has previously been bestowed on artist-writers including Matraca Berg, Toby Keith, Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, Kris Kristofferson, Dean Dillon and Hank Williams Jr., in addition to multi-genre artist-writers including Stevie Nicks, Little Richard, Carole King, Patti LaBelle, Brian Wilson, James Brown, Janet Jackson, Bo Diddley, Holland-Dozier-Holland, Peter Gabriel, Al Green, Van Morrison, Sting, Bryan Ferry, Carlos Santana and Los Lobos.
Additionally, the BMI Country Awards will reveal BMI’s annual country songwriter of the year, country song of the year and country publisher of the year, and will honor the songwriters and music publishers behind the 50 most-performed songs in country music over the past year.
Since first affiliating with BMI in 1974, Owen has earned over 25 BMI Million-Air Awards, earned the 2000 BMI President’s Award and was feted with the BMI country song of the year honor in 1989 for “Fallin’ Again.” Starting with the group’s 1980 hit “Tennessee River,” Alabama has earned 33 No. 1 hits on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart. Owen is a co-writer on at least half of the group’s chart-toppers, including “Tennessee River,” as well as 1981’s “Feels So Right,” 1982’s “Mountain Music” and “Close Enough to Perfect,” and 1989’s “Song of the South.”
In addition to being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, Alabama has been inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Musicians Hall of Fame and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. They were also named the Country Music Association’s entertainer of the year for three consecutive years.
BMI is taking SiriusXM to court after the two sides failed to reach a deal on royalty rates during more than two years of negotiations, arguing that the satcaster is “no longer a startup” and must pay more to songwriters.
In a petition filed in court today, BMI asked a Manhattan federal judge to uphold a higher royalty rate it has asked SiriusXM to pay – citing increased revenue for the radio giant and a shift toward more lucrative digital streaming.
“SiriusXM’s financial performance, and its expansion of its digital offerings, make clear it is no longer a startup in a nascent industry,” lawyers for the rights group wrote. “Yet, despite achieving its secure and successful position, Sirius has continued to pay songwriters — who create the music essential to SiriusXM’s business — at rates that are below those negotiated decades ago when satellite radio was an infant industry with an uncertain future.”
A spokeswoman for SiriusXM declined to comment on BMI’s case.
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BMI is a so-called performance rights organization that collects copyright royalties owed to publishers and songwriters when their songs are performed publicly, offering blanket licenses that allow for the use of more than 22 million tracks. When BMI cannot agree with a licensee like SiriusXM, either side can ask a federal judge to decide the dispute and set a reasonable rate.
In doing so on Thursday, BMI pointed to what it sees as key shifts in SiriusXM’s business model since the two last negotiated a licensing deal in 2018 – namely, an increasing reliance on internet streaming rather than old-school satellite radio.
“As a result of these changes, SiriusXM’s business has shifted and is becoming more akin to a music streaming service than a traditional satellite radio or broadcast radio,” BMI’s attorneys wrote. “Digital music services pay higher rates to BMI than satellite radio, and the new SiriusXM rate should reflect this expansion of digital performances.”
The specific terms of the royalty rate that BMI is seeking from SiriusXM were not disclosed in court filings because BMI said it was “competitively sensitive.” The new rate would cover the period from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2026.
In a statement announcing the case on Thursday, BMI said that songwriters “should not have to accept an outdated rate that significantly undervalues their music.”
“After attempting to negotiate with SiriusXM in good faith for more than two years, we were compelled to file this action given their insistence on underpaying the creators of the music that drives the majority of their business,” BMI president Mike O’Neill wrote. “We will continue to fight for fair and appropriate rates when we believe the music created by our songwriters and composers is being significantly undervalued.”
The filing of the new case was celebrated Thursday by the National Music Publishers’ Association, with president and CEO David Israelite saying the group was “extremely pleased” with BMI’s decision to “demand what’s fair.”
“Companies like SiriusXM have massive profit margins fueled by music creators,” Israelite said in a statement. “We fully support BMI in their fight for the value of songs.”
BMI isn’t the only rights group in a dispute with SiriusXM over its shift toward streaming. In a lawsuit last year, SoundExchange accused the company of using bookmaking trickery – namely, manipulating how it bundles its satellite and streaming offerings – as part of a scheme to “grossly underpay” royalties by more than $150 million. SiriusXM later fired back, denying the lawsuit’s “misguided allegations.” That case remains pending.
Go read BMI’s full petition against SiriusXM here:
BMI named Martijn Tel to be its new chief financial officer on Wednesday, the performing rights organization said in a statement. Tel joins BMI from the global data & information services provider Gerson Lehrman Group, where he also served as CFO. He will report to BMI’s president and CEO Mike O’Neill. Since being acquired by the private […]