NEW YORK, July 7,2005 – After an overwhelmingly positive response to BMI's first new songwriter/artist podcast launched this May, the performing rights organization today announced the line-up for its second show. The new podcast series, entitled “See It Hear First™,” is now available for downloading on iTunes as part of Apple's free Podcast Directory. The podcast can be found on iTunes at http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=73901301.
Geared toward exposing emerging BMI songwriters and artists to key industry contacts including record company A&R staffers and creative executives at music publishing companies, the second podcast line-up was chosen from BMI's most recent signings. Featured artists include Atlanta-based rockers Elevation, Canadian crossover band Soulkid #1, and the winner of last month's favorite new artist vote, somedaynew. In addition to sound bites from all the bands, the 15 minute cast features an exclusive interview with the members of somedaynew and a sneak peek at their latest song, “Always Been Around.” Bios and photos of all of the featured artists are also available.
More than 12,000 visitors from 46 different countries tuned in to the original “See It Hear First™” podcast on BMI.com—the copyright organization's award-winning website currently receiving more than a million hits per month. Listeners can also subscribe to the BMI series using “podcatching” software like iTunes, which will periodically check for and download new content automatically.
As the first music company with a website, the first to license music on the web, and the first to make its entire song catalog available on the web, BMI has been licensing podcasters for nearly a year now. The podcast license covers the public performance rights to BMI's repertoire of more than 6.5 million compositions in all genres of music. The company's licensing site has also been expanded to provide a clear path for podcasters like Coverville.com and Keener13.com, who have already signed BMI agreements, to get more information on licensing music for their programs.
Now marking its 65th year in business, BMI is an American performing rights organization that represents more than 300,000 songwriters, composers and publishers in all genres of music. With a repertoire of more than 6.5 million musical works from around the world, the non-profit-making corporation collects license fees from businesses that use music, which it then distributes as royalties to the musical creators and copyright owners it represents.