The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) has extended office hours this summer to better serve the songwriting community. Each Saturday (except July 3) songwriters of all levels and genres are invited to stop by (1710 Roy Acuff Place, Nashville) from 10AM – 2PM for fun & excitement during Saturday Sessions! Participate in special performances, take a tour, network to find a co-writer, let our staff answer your questions or book a Writers’ Room for the afternoon.

At Saturday Sessions, NSAI will be open for business as usual and pro songwriter R.C. Bannon (“I Don’t Have To Be Me (Til Monday)” – Steve Azar) will often host intimate rounds with audience Q&A in the studio. Hit writer John Schweers (“I Left Something Turned On At Home” – Trace Adkins) and TV Personality/Music Mogul/Chef Big Fella recently shared their talents and advice. Other familiar faces like Jeff Bates (“Long, Slow Kisses”), Roger Brown (“We Must Be Loving Right” – Barbra Streisand), Steve Dean (“Round About Way” – George Strait), Beckie Foster (“For The Weekend” – Steve Wariner), The Writer’s Den Music Group’s performing/writer Trent Jeffcoat, Bill LaBounty (“Rock My World (Little Country Girl) – Brooks & Dunn”), Clay Mills (“Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It” – Darius Rucker), Thom Shepherd (“Redneck Yacht Club” – Craig Morgan), Anthony Smith (“What About Now” – Lonestar), Danny Wells (“These Days” – Rascal Flatts), Brian White (“Watching You” – Rodney Atkins) and Better Angels Music’s performing/writer Mike Willis will also join the lineup. Stay tuned for more surprises!

To learn more about NSAI and Saturday Sessions, visit nashvillesongwriters.com. Stay connected via facebook.com/NSAIofficial and twitter.com/NSAIoffical.

John A. LoFrumento, CEO of ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers), today announced the launch of a dramatic new feature for its secure Member Access online portal that will allow writers and publishers of film and television music to effortlessly view and manage cue sheet data.

“As we prepare to celebrate ASCAP’s 25th Anniversary Film & Television Music Awards next week, we are pleased to launch this major enhancement to our Member Access service,” said LoFrumento.  “We have added an innovative feature that will allow composers, songwriters and publishers instant access to their cue sheet data.  America is the leading source of film and television production and ASCAP is the first American performing rights organization to offer this type of cue sheet benefit.  It is another example of how we are leveraging technology to provide the best possible service to our members.”

A cue sheet is a document that lists data on all the music performed in a particular film or television program and constitutes the basis of payment of royalties for performances of music in audio-visual programming.  Cue sheets are the most reliable and cost-effective source for musical content in a particular film or television program.   ASCAP processes hundreds of thousands of cue sheets every year, and continues to explore advances in technology that could streamline and enhance the identification of musical content in audio-visual programming.

Previously, composers, songwriters and publishers would have to request cue sheet data from production companies in order to verify their performances.  ASCAP’s new service eliminates this need.  Some of the benefits of Cue Sheet Member Access are:

*The ability for members to view cue sheets on which they are a participant
*Multiple search options by series, episodes, non-series, specific works, co-written works or a combination
*Sort options by non-series, series or episodes in a series
*Ability to navigate between cue sheet details and their catalog information

Commenting on Cue Sheet Member Access, Richard Bellis, an Emmy Award-winning composer, author of The Emerging Film Composer and member of ASCAP’s Board of Directors, said:  “For decades, music creators for film and TV have had to fight for access to cue sheets –  in a sense, our ‘invoices.’  Since Member Access came online, ASCAP has made cue sheet availability a priority and now it’s here.  This is huge!”

Launched in October 2009, Member Access is a secure, online portal giving ASCAP’s songwriter, composer and music publisher members 24/7 access to their membership, catalog, performance and royalty information.  Member Access allows ASCAP members to conveniently conduct their business with the performing rights organization from anywhere in the world.  To date, over 50,000 ASCAP members have activated their accounts.  Member Access is available at http://members.ascap.comor via ASCAP’s website at www.ascap.com.

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 380,000 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