SONA
RAYE, Willie “Prophet” Stiggers, Thomas Scherer, Ross Golan and the late songwriter Andrea Martin will be honored at the fourth annual SONA Warrior Awards gala on Oct. 6, at 7 p.m. at Herscher Hall at the Skirball Center in Los Angeles. The awards are presented by Songwriters of North America (SONA).
British singer-songwriter RAYE made history at the BRIT Awards in March with six wins and seven nominations, the most anyone has ever received in one year. Her global smash “Escapism” was the largest selling single by a female British artist in 2023, becoming her first No. 1 on the Official U.K. Singles chart and landing at No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Stiggers is the co-founder, CEO and president of the Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC), which advocates for racial equity and justice within the music industry on behalf of Black artists, songwriters, producers, managers, agents, executives, lawyers and more.
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Scherer has been with BMG and its parent company Bertelsmann for almost three decades as an artist, songwriter, music publisher, music producer, label owner, and executive. Under his leadership, BMG has signed and re-signed writers in the U.S., among them Diane Warren, Bebe Rexha, and Lewis Capaldi, and has secured more than 50 acquisitions, among them Mötley Crüe, Paul Simon, Five Finger Death Punch, and Gucci Mane. In January, Scherer was appointed president of global catalog recordings, while retaining his responsibilities as president of music publishing in North America.
Songwriter and advocate Golan is the host of the podcast And the Writer Is, where he interviews top songwriters. His advocacy assisted in passing The Music Modernization Act. In addition, he served as the first songwriter on the board of the National Music Publishers Association.
Martin is best known for composing En Vogue’s “Don’t Let Go (Love)” as well as Angie Stone’s “Wish I Didn’t Miss You” and Leona Lewis’ “Better in Time.” She also wrote “I Love Me Some Him” for Toni Braxton and “Before You Walk Out of My Life” for Monica, and “It Kills Me” by Melanie Fiona. Martin was also a recording artist, whose singles in the late 1990s included “Let Me Return the Favor” and “Share the Love.”
Tickets for the event cost $241.94 or $535.38, with the latter option including a four-course dinner. Tickets are on sale now.
Songwriters of North America (SONA), a songwriter advocacy organization, has launched a New York chapter. Along with the new branch, the organization has also announced new developments in its leadership.
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News of a New York chapter follows months of planning by SONA to successfully create an East Coast hub. The organization held a meeting in September in Manhattan with local songwriters and publishers to talk about the possibility of establishing a New York SONA chapter and to find new board members. At that meeting, the group also discussed BMI’s then-potential sale to New Mountain Capital for a reported $1.7 billion and how that might affect its membership.
According to today’s announcement, Camus Celli has been tapped to oversee the New York chapter. Additionally, Kellie Brown has been named SONA’s new COO. Erin McAnally has been appointed to Executive Director. In this role McAnally will oversee SONA’s advocacy, membership and education initiatives. Linda Bloss-Baum has been added to the board.
Michelle Lewis will continue to serve as SONA’s CEO, but she will now oversee both SONA and the SONA Foundation, which are sister organizations with separate boards and missions.
“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to work with and build upon the strong foundation laid by such formidable advocates who work to protect and lift up songwriting as a profession,” says McAnally, executive director, SONA. “SONA provides a powerful nexus where advocacy, education, and songwriting meet, and the organization wholly aligns with so many of my life’s passions.”
“SONA’s original co-founders and I believe, as we grow from a friend-group of songwriters and composers advocating for our rights to an established, sustainable trade association and advocacy group, our most important, defining characteristic is that we remain creator-led,” adds Lewis, CEO of SONA and The SONA Foundation. “So, in selecting my successor, we looked for someone with a policy brain and a creator heart. I’m so happy and grateful to have found that unique combination in Erin McAnally. In addition, we have always imagined our growth would lead us to having a presence in DC and NY. It took eight years of hard work and growing pains to get here, but we are so excited to reach this goal! Welcome to the SONA-verse Camus and Linda!”
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