BMI will present the first in a series of educational seminars on Wednesday, July 28 from Guitar Center's Manhattan store (25 W. 14th St.). This unique event entitled "Career Connection," starts at 7:00pm and is free and open to the public. Speakers include two of the music industry's most successful executives, Atlantic Records Chairman/CEO Jason Flom and EMI Music Publishing Executive Vice President Evan Lamberg, who will discuss the new realities for artists and songwriters in the digital music age. BMI's Charlie Feldman, Vice President of Writer/Publisher Relations in New York, will moderate.

The seminar will be webcast live exclusively on Songwriter101.com, a new website that focuses on the business side of songwriting. Topics include getting the attention of a "major" in an era of smaller artist rosters; artist development in the digital age and the new dynamic of radio, TV and the web; and the re-emergence of the songwriter/artist career path. Future BMI/Guitar Center seminars will feature top artists, managers, agents, producers and executives from around the industry.

Jason Flom is Chairman and CEO of Atlantic Records Group. He served as President of Lava Records, the label he founded within Atlantic Records, from 1995 to 2004. He has worked with and signed such multimillion-selling artists as Tori Amos, Kid Rock, Uncle Kracker, matchbox twenty, Sugar Ray, The Corrs, Stone Temple Pilots, Collective Soul, Twisted Sister, Skid Row and White Lion.

Evan Lamberg has held various creative manager positions at Jobete Music, MCA Music Publishing, and EMI Music Publishing, where he now serves as Executive Vice President. He works with and has signed such artists and songwriters as Rob Thomas (matchbox twenty), Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, Jakob Dylan (The Wallflowers), Hootie & the Blowfish, Pharrell Williams (The Neptunes), Jessica Simpson, Kelis, BeBe Winans, Ludacris, Pink, Paula Abdul, Jewel and John Rzeznik (Goo Goo Dolls).

Charlie Feldman is Vice President, Writer/Publisher Relations at BMI, where he directs all writer/publisher relations and administrative activities for the company's New York office. A board member of the New York Chapter of the Recording Academy and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Feldman has worked closely with songwriter/artists such as R. Kelly, Carole King, the Neville Brothers, Full Force, Tony Joe White and emerging star Katie Melua.

Little Richard

Bo Diddley

Chuck Berry

The BMI Pop Awards is an invitation only, black-tie event that recognizes the songwriters and publishers of the most performed songs of the past year. Preston along with Barbara Cane, Vice President & General Manager, Writer/Publisher Relations, Los Angeles, will present BMI Citations of Achievement during the awards ceremony and dinner.

Past BMI Pop Award winners include Don Henley, Babyface, Counting Crows, Macy Gray, Smash Mouth, Sugar Ray, CAKE, Foo Fighters, Faith Hill, The Corrs, matchbox twenty, Sting, R.E.M., R. Kelly, Bush, Creed, 3 Doors Down, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Santana and many others. Last year's top winners included Cory Rooney (BMI Songwriter of the Year), “Breathe" (BMI Song of the Year) and EMI Music Publishing (BMI Publisher of the Year).

The BMI producer/songwriter has been nominated for an impressive 42 Grammy Awards, taking home an astounding 14 trophies (including three for Producer of the Year). He also won a Golden Globe Award in 1999 for co-writing (with Carole Bayer Sager) and producing the hit song "The Prayer" from the animated film Quest for Camelot, was named Billboard's "Top Singles Producer" and "Top R&B Producer" in 1993, and has received three Academy Award nominations.

The list of musicians Foster has worked with during his career is a who's-who of talent, and includes John Lennon, Celine Dion, Barbra Streisand, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Madonna and Diana Ross. Small wonder, then, that he was named the "Person of the Year" at the 2001 edition of Midem in Cannes, France.

In addition, Foster is also connected to the reality show "Popstars," overseeing the formation of the group Eden's Crush and producing their first album on his own 143 Records, a joint venture with the Warner Music Group whose roster includes international sensation The Corrs (20 million albums sold worldwide) and Christian pop group Plus One. He has been the label's chairman since its inception in 1993.

Such a list of accomplishments, and the fact that his career dates back to 1973, has understandably left Foster feeling a bit fatigued. "I'm not sick of it, but I'm tired," he told the Vancouver Sun in January. "It's a little hard to get up in the morning, go to the studio and try to create music that's going to hit and sell. But I don't hate the industry at all."

Foster has even been flirting with the idea of running for Prime Minister of his native British Columbia, and told the Sun that he plans to spend the next four to five years learning about the job.

In the meantime, he is keeping plenty busy with other, non-music related projects. An avid advocate for children's rights, he has established the David Foster Foundation to assist families of children who need organ transplants, and in 1999 formed tonos.com with Sager and producer/artist Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds. The web site provides career advice and job listings for new songwriters and musicians.

Whether his future includes politics or not, Foster is secure in the feeling that he will do the right thing. "The worst thing for my musical career would be struggling, not having hits, not getting the right phone calls and still trying to be a record producer/songwriter," he told the Sun. "True champions try to go out on top or near the top."

"We've put our hearts and souls into this album, and I hope the record speaks for itself," says Jim Corr, the group's 35-year-old keyboard player and big brother to fellow band members Sharon (29), Caroline (25) and Andrea (24). Since In Blue has already debuted at number one on the charts in the family's native Ireland, as well as the U.K., Germany, Spain, Austria, Switzerland and Australia, the album obviously speaks well for the Corrs, who boast international sales of some 15 million albums on three previous albums.

The group's U.S. gold album for their last release here, Talk On Corners, is only a hint of what's to come with In Blue. The siblings wrote all 15 tracks, three of them in collaboration with master producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, known for his chart-topping work with Def Leppard and Shania Twain. Also enlisting producers like Mitchell Froom (Sheryl Crow, Paul McCartney) for the album, the Corrs have created a hook-laden set of songs that showcase their luscious familial harmonies and natural appeal.

For all their talent and the glamour appeal of the three beautiful sisters, the Corrs have broken through thanks to hard work. "We've sold every album ourselves, practically door to door," explains Sharon. The offspring of a mother and father who entertained Irish pub crowds with cover songs every weekend, The Corrs came together when Jim formed the group with his sisters to audition for the movie The Commitments, in which three of them won minor parts and Andrea played a starring role. The Corrs carried on from there with their own campaign for success, earning fans in gig after gig in Ireland, the United Kingdom and then much of the rest of the world, taking their show as far afield as Australia and the Far East.

By now The Corrs have performed for such luminaries as England's Queen Elizabeth II and The Pope, and opened concerts in the U.S. and Europe for the Rolling Stones. Large-scale Stateside success with In Blue may be just the beginning for The Corrs.

"Everybody is asking whether this is the definitive Corrs album," says Sharon. "Well, it is for now. But just wait until you hear the next one."