March 2021
Dear Songwriter, Composer and Publisher,
It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since the world began facing unprecedented challenges brought on by the pandemic. Throughout this time, your creativity and resilience, and the momentum of your incomparable music, have been unstoppable and truly inspiring. Moving forward, we’re hopeful that the situation will begin to improve and are optimistic about the opportunities ahead.
I have several updates to share with you this quarter. First, as you know, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief and stimulus package. This vital legislation contains several provisions that can help the creative community, including additional direct payments, unemployment insurance extensions and tax exclusions, billions in additional funding for the Payment Protection Program as well as the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program, and more. We’ve put together further detail on these provisions, how they can benefit creators and copyright owners, and our statement in support of the legislation here.
In addition, I’m extremely pleased to announce that Sandye Taylor recently joined BMI as Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer. Sandye will lead BMI’s diversity, equity and inclusion strategy, while working closely with our team to support BMI’s Core Values, build on BMI’s commitment to fostering an inclusive workplace, and guide an equitable approach to attracting, retaining, and advancing diverse talent. She will also spearhead BMI’s efforts to engage with our communities and help drive meaningful change. I’m looking forward to working together with Sandye on all of this critically important work and will keep you updated on our initiatives.
In January, BMI was proud to support the opening of the new National Museum of African American Music in Nashville. This highly anticipated museum spotlights the indelible contributions of Black songwriters and composers to the rich history of music. Throughout February, BMI was excited to celebrate Black History Month on our website and social media platforms, and we’re now honoring Women’s History Month. During the past eight decades, BMI has been privileged to represent countless outstanding Black pioneers of music, as well as so many impactful, influential and innovative female music creators in every genre, from singular songwriters to extraordinary composers, so it’s a pleasure to pay tribute to some of the greats on our platforms.
This distribution highlights the continued growth we’re seeing in the audiovisual streaming space. In addition to your regular royalties, those with performances on the following services will also see payments: first-time royalties for HBOMAX from second quarter through third quarter of 2020, XUMO payments from fourth quarter of 2015 through third quarter of 2020, and royalties for Peloton for first quarter through third quarter of 2020. In addition, BMI recently renewed our licensing agreement with Amazon Video, and this distribution also reflects royalties for the first and second quarters of 2020 from that source, if you qualify. As a reminder, please sign up for direct deposit, if you haven’t already.
Finally, awards season is in full swing and we have many stellar BMI affiliates to congratulate for their recent honors: all of our GRAMMY winners, Golden Globe winner Atticus Ross, our Academy Award nominees and shortlisted composers, NEA Jazz Masters, ACM nominees, our composers with music featured in films at Sundance, BAFTA nominees, Premio Lo Nuestro winners, as well as our Latin American Music Award nominees. We’re also excited to salute our wonderful family of Latin songwriters and publishers with our online BMI Latin Awards, kicking off March 29th on BMI.com and our social media channels, so please join us for that celebration.
I look forward to sharing more updates with you soon. Until then, I hope you and your loved ones stay well, enjoy the start of spring, and as always, keep up the incredible music!
Sincerely,
Mike O'Neill
President and Chief Executive Officer