January 19, 2018
HELD IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE APOLLO THEATER THE PANEL WILL TAKE PLACE
ON SATURDAY, JANUARY 27TH AT THE APOLLO THEATER
New York, New York (January 22, 2018) – Today, Broadcast Music, Inc. ® (BMI®) announces that multi-platinum and GRAMMY award-winning music producer Mark Batson will join the panel discussion at BMI’s annual pre-GRAMMY event, How I Wrote That Song® (HIWTS), on Saturday, January 27th at the Apollo Theater (253 West 125th Street). Alongside GRAMMY-nominated R&B sensation Tory Lanez, GRAMMY award-winning super producer RedOne and GRAMMY award-winning R&B royalty Faith Evans, Batson will join the other panelists in giving first-hand insight into the making of some of their biggest hits and most successful albums. The event, held in partnership with the Apollo Theater, will be moderated by BMI’s VP, Creative, Catherine Brewton.
For over ten years BMI’s How I Wrote That Song has provided aspiring songwriters with the unique opportunity to learn about the art of songwriting, producing and performing straight from the industry’s hottest GRAMMY-nominated and award-winning artists. Previous participants have included Nas, Fat Joe, Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, will.i.am, Zac Brown, Cee Lo Green, B.o.B, Kara DioGuardi, Seal, Luke Laird, Claude Kelly, John Legend, Wiz Khalifa, Charlie Wilson, Common, Colbie Caillat, Dallas Davidson, Lauren Christy, Alex Da Kid, Linda Perry, Salaam Remi, Rev Run, RZA, The Madden Brothers and more.
The event will run from 1-3PM with doors at 12PM. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door (plus fees). A special college student rate is available at the Apollo Theater box office only with valid college ID, 18+ (plus fees). For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0000542CC587665A
To join the conversation, use #BMIHIWTS.
ABOUT THE PANELISTS:
REDONE: The multiple GRAMMY-winning producer, musician and songwriter has become one of the most successful and sought-after record producers and songwriters in the world. His work has earned more than 70 international hit singles, including 35 #1 singles, and he continues to watch his work garner more chart-topping accolades with Nicki Minaj, Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Usher, Quincy Jones, Enrique Iglesias, Nicole Scherzinger, Mary J Blige, Cheb Khaled, Maylene Farmer, One Direction, Midnight Red, Chawki and many more. @RedOne_Official
FAITH EVANS: is a multi-platinum GRAMMY- Award-winning recording artist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. With a music career spanning over two decades, Faith has released eight studio albums, with over 18 million albums sold and spawning over 30 singles. With three platinum-certified albums under her belt, the seven-time GRAMMY nominee was awarded a GRAMMY for “Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group” in 1998 for “I’ll Be Missing You,” a tribute to her late husband and hip-hop legend Notorious B.I.G. Faith is keeping his musical legacy alive with her latest release The King & I, a duets collection featuring the vocals of B.I.G. and hers. The multi-talented singer is also a New York Times best-selling author (Keep the Faith: A Memoir) and a TV producer, co-creating the original reality series, R&B Divas, which became TVOne’s most watched original premiere in the history of the network. @faithevans
TORY LANEZ: Tory Lanez is a vocalist and producer from Toronto. His debut album I Told You reached #4 on the Billboard 200 upon its release with the highest first week sales of a debut urban artist in 2016. The album spawned two #1 hits, the Platinum-certified “Say It” and “LUV,” which was nominated for “Best R&B Song” at the 59th Grammy Awards. The release garnered critical acclaim from the likes of Rolling Stone, who praised Lanez’s “crooning vocals and hard-nosed raps” and Pitchfork, who called it “an intoxicating brew of atmosphere-warping R&B and pop zip.” Having graced the stages of Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Hangout, Made in America, The Meadows and a recently released collaboration with Cashmere Cat & Major Lazer “Miss You,” Lanez is, as Complex says, “only getting started.” @torylanez
MARK BATSON: Mark Batson is a GRAMMY Award winning multi-platinum producer, musician and songwriter. He’s produced albums by artists including Eminem, Alicia Keys, LeAnn Rimes and Anthony Hamilton and has worked with everyone from Jay Z, Dave Matthews Band, Beyoncé, Maroon 5 and Dr. Dre to James Blunt, Skylar Grey, Grace Potter and The Nocturnals, Seal, Nas and Sting, among others. Batson won a GRAMMY Award in 2004 for “Best R&B Album” for his work on Beyoncé’s Dangerously in Love, and two consecutive GRAMMY Awards for “Best Rap Album” for Eminem’s Relapse (2010) and Recovery (2011). He has produced and composed music for the feature films I Tonya, D.U.D.E, Incorruptible, Beauty Shop, Miami Vice, American Hustle and Triple 9. @Markbatsonmusic
ABOUT BMI:
Celebrating over 77 years of service to songwriters, composers, music publishers and businesses, Broadcast Music, Inc.® (BMI®) is a global leader in music rights management, serving as an advocate for the value of music. BMI represents the public performance rights in nearly 13 million musical works created and owned by more than 800,000 songwriters, composers, and music publishers. The Company negotiates music license agreements and distributes the fees it generates as royalties to its affiliated writers and publishers when their songs are performed in public. In 1939, BMI created a groundbreaking open-door policy becoming the only performing rights organization to welcome and represent the creators of blues, jazz, country, and American roots music. Today, the musical compositions in BMI’s repertoire, from chart toppers to perennial favorites, span all genres of music and are consistently among the most-performed hits of the year. For additional information and the latest BMI news, visit bmi.com, follow us on Twitter @BMI or stay connected through Broadcast Music, Inc.‘s Facebook page. Sign up for BMI’s The Weekly™ and receive our e-newsletter every Monday to stay up to date on all things music.
ABOUT THE APOLLO THEATER:
The legendary Apollo Theater—the soul of American culture—plays a vital role in cultivating emerging artists and launching legends. Since its founding, the Apollo has served as a center of innovation and a creative catalyst for Harlem, the city of New York, and the world.
With music at its core, the Apollo’s programming extends to dance, theater, spoken word, and more. This includes 100: The Apollo Celebrates Ella blockbuster concert, the annual Africa Now! Festival, and the recent New York premiere of the opera Charlie Parker’s YARDBIRD. The Apollo is a performing arts presenting organization that also produces festivals and large-scale dance and music works organized around a set of core initiatives that celebrate and extend the Apollo’s legacy through a contemporary lens; global festivals including the Women of the World (WOW) Festival and Breakin’ Convention, international and U.S.-based artist presentations focused on a specific theme; and Special Projects, multidisciplinary collaborations with partner organizations.
Since introducing the first Amateur Night contests in 1934, the Apollo Theater has served as a testing ground for new artists working across a variety of art forms, and has ushered in the emergence of many new musical genres—including jazz, swing, bebop, R&B, gospel, blues, soul, and hip-hop. Among the countless legendary performers who launched their careers at the Apollo are D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill, Machine Gun Kelly, Miri Ben Ari, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, James Brown, Michael Jackson, Gladys Knight, Luther Vandross, and Stevie Wonder; and the Apollo’s forward-looking artistic vision continues to build on this legacy.
PRESS CONTACTS:
Brittnee Walker
212.220.3135
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Jodie Thomas
212.220.3142
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FOR THE APOLLO THEATER:
Nina Flowers
212.531.5334
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Jarred Hopkins
212.531.5340
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