Established in 1967, The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) is the world’s largest not-for-profit songwriters trade association consisting of thousands of professional and developing songwriters from all genres. NSAI maintains the steadfast commitment, set by its founding songwriters, to protect the rights and future of the profession of songwriting and to educate, elevate and celebrate the songwriter. With 90 chapters throughout the U.S. and beyond, NSAI acts as a unifying force within the music community and the community at large.
With an all-songwriter board of directors and dedicated staff, some of NSAI’s legislative, judicial, regulatory, and marketplace advocacy work includes: sole responsibility for restoring Capital Gains tax treatment to songwriter catalogue sales, being at the forefront of the creation and adoption of the Orrin G. Hatch Music Modernization Act, victorious Copyright Royalty Board trials, ensuring songwriters were eligible for federal relief and state unemployment benefits during the Covid pandemic and recent state and pending federal legislation to put guardrails around generative artificial intelligence including adoption of the ELVIS Act.
NSAI is the proud owner of The Bluebird Cafe, and the historic Music Mill studios—our headquarters located on Roy Acuff Place in the heart of Nashville’s Music Row. We stage the world’s largest songwriter festival called Tin Pan South each Spring and the Nashville Songwriter Awards each Fall.
Mission Statement
The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) consists of a body of creative minds, including songwriters from all genres of music, professional and amateur, who are committed to protecting the rights and future of the profession of songwriting and to educate, elevate and celebrate the songwriter and to act as a unifying force within the music community and the community at large.