New York, NY, November 11, 2008: Approximately $2.7 million in cash awards for 2008 - 2009 has been made to writer members of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) by the Society's ASCAPlus Awards Panels, it was announced today by ASCAP President & Chairman Marilyn Bergman. The purpose of these special awards, which have been given each year since 1960, is to reward writers whose works have a unique prestige value for which adequate compensation would not otherwise be received, and to compensate those writers whose works are performed substantially in media not surveyed by ASCAP.
Commenting on the awards, Ms. Bergman said, "Since 1960, the unique ASCAPlus Awards program has provided deserving music creators with something meaningful and tangible in the form of recognition and money. I can attest to this personally because at an early stage of my career, I was a Special Awards recipient. As always, we are greatly indebted to each of our hard-working panelists for giving their time and effort to this important endeavor."
The members of the ASCAPlus Awards Panel are: JoAnn Falletta, conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic and the Virginia Symphony Orchestras; Peter Filichia, drama critic for the (Newark)
Star-Ledger; Brian Mansfield, country music authority and Nashville correspondent for
USA Today; Melinda Newman, well-known music journalist; Pat Prescott, veteran radio personality who currently co-hosts the morning show on KTWV ("The Wave") in Los Angeles; H. Robert Reynolds, Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan; and Steve Smith, Classical Music Editor for
Time Out New York.
For more information about the ASCAPlus Awards program, please visit
www.ascap.com/ascapplus
About ASCAP
Established in 1914, ASCAP is the first and leading U.S. Performing Rights Organization (PRO) representing the world's largest repertory totaling over 8.5 million copyrighted musical works of every style and genre from more than 330,000 songwriter, composer and music publisher members. ASCAP has representation arrangements with similar foreign organizations so that the ASCAP repertory is represented in nearly every country around the world where copyright law exists. ASCAP protects the rights of its members and foreign affiliates by licensing the public performances of their copyrighted works and distributing royalties based upon surveyed performances. ASCAP is the only American PRO owned and governed by its writer and publisher members.
www.ascap.com
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