This has been an astoundingly difficult year for everyone. Music is a healer. We at PEN Music Group are so grateful to have an amazing roster of talent who wrote, recorded, and released beautiful music during a year when people needed it the most. Wishing everyone a safe, happy, and healthy holiday season.
Listen to the PEN Top 20 of 2020 on Spotify
PEN congratulates our writers who have garnered 2021 Grammy nominations!
BEST R&B SONG: “Collide” by Tiana Major9 and EARTHGANG (from ‘Queen & Slim: The Soundtrack’) • Co-written by Sam Barsh
BEST LATIN POP OR URBAN ALBUM: ‘3:33’ by Debi Nova • featuring the songs “xtraGlow” and “Sunrise,” co-written by Dennis Hamm
BEST PROGRESSIVE R&B ALBUM: ‘It Is What It Is’ by Thundercat: featuring the songs “How Sway” and “Funny Thing,” co-written by Dennis Hamm
For a full list of the 2021 nominees, please visit: https://www.grammy.com/grammys/news/2021-grammys-complete-nominees-list
Read the new Music Connection 'Copright Infringement in Plain Language' article written by Bobby Borg and PEN's Michael Eames:
Canadian poet, novelist, and teacher Margaret Atwood once said, “Human beings make art, that’s just what we do.” Atwood’s statement beautifully captures the natural inclination for self-expression, collaboration, and communication. But how well do you think the author’s statement would hold up in a world where art could be legally used by everyone at his or her own discretion for free? It wouldn’t. And that is exactly why there are copyright laws. Copyrights give artists just like you an incentive to create beyond just the pure pleasure of it.
But even when there are copyright laws and registration processes in place, there will be cases where people use your music without your permission, knowledge and payment (this is called infringement). Sometimes this is done out of ignorance, sometimes it is done by mistake, and sometimes it is done intentionally. Just be clear that registration does not stop stealing, it only makes it easier to sue people that do rip you off. That is why understanding the very basics about copyright infringement is extremely important. It can help you to feel more confident about the rights in your works, and it can help stop you from infringing others, too.
In any case, let’s take a quick look at the definition of infringement and end with a series of famous cases.
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Michael Eames and PEN Music Group were awarded the AIMP (@aimporg/LA Chapter) Indie Publisher of the Year award last night at BMI (@bmi)! Our entire team and several clients and friends were there to celebrate this prestigious distinction with us. As we continue to celebrate our 25th year in the music industry, we are very humbled and extremely excited to move into 2020 and beyond with all of you!
PEN congratulations our 2020 Grammy-nominated artists and writers!
Best Contemporary Blues Album by @sugarayrayford (produced by @ericcorne on @40belowrecords)
“Elevate” by @djkhalil ft. @ybncordae @trevrichhd @swavay @denzelcurryp (co-written by @chiefseeff @sambarsh @didiercohenofficial), from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, nominated for Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media
Excited to announce the release of the new @jasonderulo song #talkwithyourbody, which contains an interpolation of the iconic #christinaaguilera hit #genieinabottle, co-written by @pamsheyne). Listen now on the new album #2Sides on @warnerrecords!
Congrats to our talented writers, Sam Barsh and Daniel Seeff for landing a placement for their song “Rise” on the new American drama series, Godfather of Harlem on EPIX!
PEN's own Mikey Wax has co-written Alli Fitz’s brand new single "Company.” Alli is a rising pop artist with 5.3 million followers to date on TikTok and a major social media presence across IG, Twitter, and YouTube. Co-produced by SYML and Mikey, “Company” is now available for streaming on SoundCloud, YouTube, and Spotify.
Additionally from Mikey Wax, the Freeform network’s Siren recently featured the song "Before You Do It Again,” feat. vocalist LIIV, co-written by Mikey, and produced by Gold Brother. More information on the single here.
This week’s episode of NBC’s America’s Got Talent: The Champions feat. Aloe Blacc’s “The Man”
Tonight’s episode of Dynasty on the CW features the new single BACKROOM by ShyBoy!
Logic’s new album YSIV out today! Features songs co-written with Sam Barsh ("Everybody Dies") and Daniel Seeff ("Everybody Dies" and "Iconic").
Congrats to our clients Raining Jane and Peter Stuart (of Dog’s Eye View) who respectively co-wrote the songs "Have It All" and "Sleeping To Dream" on the new Jason Mraz album Know.
Excited to now be partnered with Sacem to manage the collection/distribution of royalties for the online repertoire of Mother's Finest Songs, a catalogue of over 350 songs (including hits such as "Genie In A Bottle" by Christina Aguilera), all co-written by Ivor Novello Award winner Pam Sheyne!
Lukas Nelson & Promise Of The Real have been nominated for Group Of The Year in the 2018 Americana Music Association Awards! Big congrats to everyone, including our client Jesse Grey Siebenberg!
PPcorn's list of the Top 10 female drummers of time includes PEN client Gina Schock of The Go Go's:
"The Go-Go’s remain the top-selling girl group of all time. Gina Schock played drums for the band after an early stint with the punk group Edie and the Eggs, which was formed by director John Waters to work with Edith Massey. Schock still tours with the Go-Go’s and has written songs for Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez."
Logic celebrates his second No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with ‘Bobby Tarantino II’ and becomes the 15th act to have logged at least 10 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, including this week’s “Indica Badu” (ft. Wiz Khalifa), co-written by Sam Barsh of Grand Cru Entertainment.
https://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/8255122/logic-lands-10-songs-on-billboard-hot-100-from-bobby-tarantino-ii-mixtape
Rolling Stone Country's January 2018 "10 New Country Artists You Need To Know" round-up features Sam Morrow:
"California classic rock like Little Feat mixed with Texas honkytonk for a new breed of SoCal melting pot country"
The Go-Go's are bound for Broadway, with Gwyneth Paltrow in tow.
Paltrow is set to make her Broadway producing debut on Head Over Heels, a new musical comedy featuring the hits of The Go-Go's. The show will play at San Francisco's Curran Theater from April 24 through May 20 before a Broadway run next season at a theater to be announced.
Michael Mayer is directing, with musical supervision, orchestrations and arrangements by Tom Kitt and choreography by Spencer Liff. Based on Sir Philip Sidney's 16th-century work The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia, Head Over Heels' original book was written by Jeff Whitty and adapted by James Magruder.
It features the Go-Go’s hits “We Got the Beat,” “Get Up and Go,” “Cool Jerk,” “Vacation,” “Our Lips Are Sealed,” “Lust to Love,” “Head Over Heels” and Belinda Carlisle’s solo hits “Mad About You” and “Heaven Is a Place on Earth.”
The musical had its world premiere at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in summer 2015. Rick Ferrari, Donovan Leitch, Christine Russell, Louise Gund, Hunter Arnold and Tom Kirdahy are producing the Broadway run with Paltrow.
"If you told us 30 years ago that our songs were going to be in a musical, we’d have said, ‘Of course they’ll be on Broadway!’ None of us would have really believed it though — what a crazy idea!" said The Go-Go’s (Charlotte Caffey, Belinda Carlisle, Gina Schock, Jane Wiedlin and Kathy Valentine) in a statement. "Yet here we are, with Head Over Heels — a celebration of love in all its forms, joyful, fun and full of heart, driven by the songs that for decades have been making people jump from their seats and dance."
By Ashley Lee | December 12, 2017 3:56 PM EST
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
