"The podcast is a natural evolution of our long tradition of promotional CDs and our nationwide series of live showcases promoting new songwriter/artists," said Senior Vice President, Writer/Publisher Relations Phil Graham
Simultaneously, BMI Licensing Vice President Richard Conlon, who oversees the company's new media area, announced that BMI had been licensing podcasters for nearly a year covering the public performance rights to the BMI repertoire.
BMI's licensing website has been expanded to provide a clear path for podcasters to get more information on licensing music for their programs and to obtain BMI licenses 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. BMI plans on rolling out additional licensing programs for this new medium as it grows.
BMI will select songwriter/artists for the podcast from its new signings each month. Repertoire for the first podcast, chosen from talent from January 2005 through April 2005, includes Jetpack, Astaire, somedaynew and Brendan James.
BMI says it was "the first music company with a web site, the first to license music on the web, and the first to make data on its entire catalog of more than 4.5 million compositions available on the web. The podcast is a logical next step."
- Portions from a BMI News Release
