News

SONGWRITER GUEST POST
A dozen years ago I made the scariest decision of my professional life. I was going to go “all in” and try to be a professional songwriter.

I was in my early 30’s, newly married and with my first child on the way. Little voices were telling me I was too old to be chasing an uncertain, unstable career. They said “you’re not talented enough…connected enough…crazy enough.” These voices were loud and making way too much sense.

NSAI PRESIDENT LEE THOMAS MILLER ON FOX 17
This week on Fox 17, Lee Thomas Miller talks about fighting for updates in streaming royalty rates. This past summer he visited DC to advocate changes for the songwriter community. Check out the video and article here.

NSAI Executive Director Bart Herbison is featured on the Nashville BizBlog to talk about low royalties, the Music Mill and changes on Music Row. Read more here.

The first Online Pitch of the year was a huge success!!! 15 out of 48 songs were taken- that's a one in three chance that your song was chosen. Many thanks to Jeff Skaggs and everyone involved. The writers and their songs taken last night included the following:

On January 21, NSAI held a Wednesday With A Pro workshop led by songwriter/producer Ben Glover! If you aren't familiar with this event, Wednesday With A Pro is a 1-2 hour session set up living room style in the studio where pros talk about their career journey and offer professional advice by answering questions asked by those in attendance.Attendees are also typically treated to a song or two. WWAP is one of our most personal and interactive learning experiences you'll have as a member.

Congratulations to the following members who had their songs taken at Pitch to Publisher last night! Thanks to everyone who came out to the workshop and especially to Robert Carlton (Smack Songs) for making another pitch opportunity possible. Our next Pitch to Publisher night will be February 26th with Chelsea Kent (Still Working Music) !

Congratulations to our ten (10) finalists vying for the Grand Prize Award in the 15th Annual Song Contest Presented by CMT! Take a listen to our 10 finalists' songs and vote for your favorite(s) now though February 28, 2015 at nsai.cmt.com. Voting is limited to one (1) vote per person per song during the length of the voting period (February 1 - 28, 2015).

15th Annual NSAI Song Contest Grand Prize Award Finalists are:

One of the most common questions we get around here from new or prospective members is “what can NSAI do for me?” Personally, I find that question very difficult to answer with any sincerity. Can NSAI make you a better songwriter? Maybe. Can we help you meet co-writers? Maybe. Can we get your songs cut? Maybe. “Maybe” isn’t the answer anyone wants to hear and honestly, that “maybe” requires more explanation, so eventually, I stopped answering the question directly and now I ask the inquirer, “Have you ever belonged to a gym?”

Thanks to everyone who joined us in our Online Pitch with Travis Carter from Warner/Chappell Music! Congratulations to the following members whose songs were taken:
1. Matthew Cox, "The Weekend"
2. Brittany Hadley, "Long Gone Don Juan"
3. Ken Larish, "Plane Jane"
4. Brett Mandel, "A Moment Doesn't Matter"
5. Josh Ryan, "Love Was A Friday Night"
6. Sarah Solovay, "If You Won't"
7. Corey Vanderhoof, "Leaning Me Lonely"

Our next Online Pitch is February 16th with Ciara Gardner. Registration opens February 9th at 11am CT.

Pictured: U.S. Register of Copyrights Maria Pallante, NSAI’s Sr. Director of Operations Jennifer Turnbow, President Lee Thomas Miller, past-President Steve Bogard and Legislative Co-Chair Roger Brown in Executive Director Bart Herbison’s office An EXECUTIVE SUMMARY of the much anticipated report from the U.S. Copyright Office that contains their recommendations on changes in the music-licensing-rate setting procedures for the United States can be found here.

Songwriters Bleed Ink

Friday, February 13th, NSAI received the Chairman's Award For Creativity at the Copyright Society of the USA Executive Committee meeting in Nashville, TN.

For the eighth consecutive year, select Watkins students competed to design the logo to be used on all Tin Pan South marketing, passes, posters and banners, and Sara Schork’s artwork was chosen to represent this year’s event.

We are thrilled to announce that Tom Johnston of The Doobie Brothers WILL be our closing guest for Spring Training 2015! You aren’t going to want to miss this exclusive interview and acoustic performance.

Register to join us March 27 -28: http://nashvillesongwriters.com/spring-training. Limited number of spots remain!

Thanks to everyone who joined us this week for "Online Pitch" with Ciara Gardner and "Pitch to Publisher Night" with Chelsea Kent! Be sure to check out our workshop and Online Pitch pages for upcoming event dates!

Online Pitch-February 24th:
1. Ricky Dixon- "I’ve Been Drinking (and I don’t drink)"
2. JW Faria- "Catchin A Buzz"

Pitch to Publisher-February 26th: