NFL and NHL Pump Up Fans with Music from BMI Scribes

Posted in News on November 4, 2008

“Pump It,” recorded by the Black Eyed Peas, was the most-performed song at National Football League (NFL) and National Hockey League (NHL) games last season, according to Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI). “Sports teams use ‘Pump It’ to fire up crowds and get them chanting and dancing for the home team,” said Del Bryant, BMI President and CEO. “Sports fans feel great when this song is playing, regardless of the score.” Co-writers on the song include Black Eyed Peas members’ will.i.am and apl.de.ap, along with Thomas Van Musser. The song appears on the group’s album Monkey Business, released in 2005.

BMI is the largest performing right organization in America. The company collects and distributes royalties for more than 375,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers, who own 6.5 million musical works, more than half the music currently played in the United States.

BMI pays songwriters annually for songs performed during the preceding sports season and recently distributed royalties for the 2007-2008 stretch of NFL and NHL games. Using reports provided by teams, BMI tallies and distributes royalties based on the number of performances each song receives during games, including the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl. Royalties for specific song performances are determined by game attendance and size of licensing fees paid by the teams. More than 1,600 song titles were captured in the reports, which covered the period from July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008.

“Twilight Zone” claims the second spot on the list. A heart-thumping rap written by Jean-Paul DeCoster and Phil Wilde, “Twilight Zone” was released in 1992 by 2 Unlimited, a band from the Netherlands. The third most popular song at NFL and NHL games is “Pretender,” co-written and recorded by Foo Fighters members Dave Grohl, Chris Shiflett and Nate Mendel. Rounding out the top ten most-performed BMI sports songs are “Song 2,” “We Will Rock You,” “Stronger”, “Cowboys from Hell,” “Machinehead,” “Woof” and “Black Betty.”

SOURCENews TAGS Licensing Black Eyed Peas Del Bryant Foo Fighters Dave Grohl Will.I.Am