Songwriters from throughout
the USA and abroad embark upon Hollywood at the Renaissance Hotel recently for
ASCAP’s “I Create Music Expo.” More than 3,000 participants attending the
seminars there were also able to enjoy the 25th Annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards
honoring top hit creators.
ASCAP is the American Society
of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Among those members honored by the society
were Lionel Richie and Steve Miller who received ASCAP’s Golden Note Award and
Sara Bareilles, recipient of the Vanguard award. Timbaland, Songwriter of the
Year, was honored for his contribution to nine award-winning songs “Give it To
Me,” “Ice Box,” “Make Me Better,” “My Love,” “Say it Right,” “Summer Love/Set
the Mood,” “The Way I Are,” “Until the End of Time” and “What Goes Around, Comes
Around.”
Song of the Year tied between
“Big Girls Don’t Cry,” written by Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson and Toby Gad and “The
Sweet Escape,” written by Gwen Stefani, Akon and Giorgio Tuinfort.
Fergie also collected Pop
Awards for “Glamorous” and “Fergalicious.”
Among the top five
most-performed songs recognized were “Irreplaceable,” written by Beyonce
Knowles, Mikkel Eriksen and Tor Hermansen, “It’s Not Over,” written by Gregg
Wattenberg, and “Say It Right,” written by Nelly Furtado (SOCAN) and Timbaland.
EMI was named Publisher of
the Year.
One highlight of the evening
was legendary songwriter-producer Quincy Jones, who was joined by ASCAP
President and Chairman Marilyn Bergman as they presented Richie with his award.
Jones pointed out that
although he believes Richie is a tremendous singer and live performer
he also believes, as ASCAP does, that Lionel will be long remembered for his
songs, including “Three Times a Lady.”
The amazing thing about the
expo is the large volume of information for the newcomer to the industry, as
well as the pro. The expo is a weeklong series of activities to inspire, guide
and celebrate the creative minds in music.
One attendee I interviewed,
Lennna, says she has released five albums and credits part of her success to
ASCAP and the companies she became familiar with at expos. For example, she
learned about Sound Exchange, an organization that polices artists’ songs and
tracks where they are being played to ensure proper royalties.
Seminars dealt with
marketing, songwriting techniques, online marketing, and featured renowned
artists who made presentations, such as Jackson Browne and Bon Jovi. Steve
Miller, in addition to being honored with his award, was a seminar speaker
sharing his career insight with aspiring artists. The Steve Miller Band
performed following a congratulatory taped presentation by guitar great Les Paul
who instructed Miller from youth and mentored him ongoing.
Established in 1914, ASCAP is
the first and leading U.S. performing rights organization representing the
world’s largest repertory totaling over 8.5 million copyrighted musical works of
every style and genre from more than 315,000 songwriter, composer and music
publisher members. Find out more about ASCAP and see a list of all Pop Awards
given at www.ascap.com.
In an upcoming interview,
music producers Battlecat and Sir Jinx, who attended the ASCAP expo, talk about
the transition in hip-hop, where the music and lyrics comes from a negative
point of view to a positive one. They will explain the origins and reasons for
the controversial lyrics and the changes underway.
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My book of poetry
entitled "Messages" was inspired by my dear friends C.J. Cansler along
with Victoria Boone and Beryl Warren.
The group of poems
along with some beautiful photographs are to inspire the reader.
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