Becoming a BMI Songwriter

I recall the day, very well, when the Record & Publishing contracts came. I understood what the record deal meant but back then did not know a thing about the publishing contract. I of course signed them and sent them back as soon as I could. Luckily, for me, the company I was dealing with was straight forward and honest. I probably would have been willing to sign my life away but fortunately did not.

As time goes by for all of us I one day found myself, nine years later, in Nashville with a business partner who wanted to check out a museum there. If just so happened that after parking the car and looking down the street I could see a sign on the side of a building that read, "BMI". Long story short we sent into BMI and up to the receptionist desk. My partner, not knowing I had written any songs, was thinking I was joking about the whole thing. I told the receptionist that I was a BMI song writer and wanted to know if I had any royalties. Her attitude changed just a little after I told her I was a BMI writer and when she came back from the computer room it really changed. She offered us coffee and was very asked us to be seated while they looked up more information about my songs.

Looking back at that day the computer was in a different room being and the info was only accessible by a few people I suppose. Today I can site down, write in the BMI address, type in a code and I can find all the info I need to find on my account over the web. Oh, by the way, I didn't have any royalties coming.