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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, March 4, 2002

Never sell your tune for a song

By Jim Patterson
Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — When Frances W. Preston sums up the current state of songwriter's rights, it's with the perspective of more than 40 years trying to ensure they get paid for their work.

Frances W. Preston is a powerful ally for songwriters.

Associated Press

"It's the worst time that I think I've ever seen," she says.

Preston is the president and CEO of Broadcast Music Inc., a performance rights organization that collects license fees on behalf of songwriters when their music is played on radio, television and the Internet, or is performed publicly.

The one-time radio station receptionist is the ultimate songwriters' advocate, lobbying Congress, negotiating deals with BMI's counterparts in other nations, explaining songwriting issues to the public and studying to keep pace with technological developments.

BMI's job has gotten more complicated in the Internet age, when music is increasingly free for the taking — or stealing, in Preston's view.

"New technology should be exciting for the songwriter, because it's a tremendous amount of exposure in so many different ways. But it's been very frustrating because their rights are being diluted," Preston said in a recent interview at her Nashville office.

That frustration doesn't have Preston, who is 67, thinking of retiring — she's signed a new contract that will keep her at the top of BMI through 2004. She remains passionate about her role as an advocate for songwriters — and incensed about the way they're often treated.

"When a record sells a million, if the songwriter winds up with $10,000 when it's all over with, it's going to be a miracle," Preston said.

BMI collects more than $500 million in fees each year and distributes about 84 percent of it back to songwriters as royalties.

Preston has been the top executive at BMI for nearly 20 years and in 1992 was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

"I'm a workaholic," said Preston, a small, gray-haired woman who favors expensive business suits and speaks with a subtle Southern accent. "I have been with one company all of my life just about. In the music business that's really amazing."

Songwriters like having her on their side.

"I've watched her since I joined BMI pretty much take all the writers and all the publishers onto her back and go to bat for us," said country star Vince Gill.

Mike Post, who has written television themes including those of "L.A. Law" and "NYPD Blue," said songwriters respect Preston's business acumen and intelligence.

"But, more than anything there's gratitude on my part and all the people I know," Post said.

Preston, a Nashville native, began her unlikely rise to the top answering phones at country station WSM-AM in the 1950s. BMI hired her in 1958 to head BMI's Nashville office.

Her mission was to sign songwriters.

"There's still people that I keep in touch with that I signed in the early days, like Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton and Kris Kristofferson," she said. "That was my favorite part of the business. But you've got to get into the business of the business in order to help them."

She thinks her rise has helped other women in the music industry, but warns that advancement comes at a price. She is divorced and has three sons. One, David Preston, works for BMI recruiting writers and publishers.

"You certainly sacrifice having real close friends that you're able to visit with and have lunch with," Preston said. "I work nights, I work weekends. I have given my life to BMI."

"I always had such ambition. I could never be satisfied with just what I was doing at any time."