Recap: ASCAP 2024 Membership MeetingOn Wednesday, February 28th, ASCAP, The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, held its 2024 ASCAP Membership Meeting at Jazz at Lincoln Center Frederick P. Rose Hall in Manhattan.The event kicked off with a performance from Grammy-nominated progressive jazz duo DOMi & JD BECK. Next up, ASCAP Chairman of the Board and President Paul Williams and ASCAP CEO Elizabeth Matthews delivered an ASCAP “State of the Union,” celebrating the PRO’s 110 years of serving music creators, recognizing ASCAP members’ remarkable achievements in 2023, and detailing its record-breaking financial success of the past year. Songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Stacey Ryan closed out the session with a performance of her own.In his remarks, Williams explained the many advantages of ASCAP, the only creator-led US PRO: “The ASCAP Board of Directors are elected by you, and they make decisions and set policy with your best interests at heart. As a Board, we are incredibly focused on maximizing the value of your music, getting you paid fast and fairly and doing everything we can to support your livelihood as music creators. That is democracy in action, folks! That is ASCAP.”

Beth Matthews, ASCAP CEO (Credit: Ryan Lash for ASCAP)

Jermaine Dupri (Credit: Ryan Lash for ASCAP)

The session was followed by “The Confessions of Jermaine Dupri,” a keynote conversation with Songwriters Hall of Famer and forefather of the Atlanta music scene Jermaine Dupri and George-Middleton. He talked about coaching Mariah Carey: “For this song, you gotta hit the note. The song is great but you gotta end the song with a Mariah Carey ending to take it to the next level.” And offered his thoughts on songwriting: “To me, people don’t pay attention to the actual art of making music and writing songs. There’s a real art to it. Find the hook people can sing. Find the right melody for the verse. These are things you should say in the studio. It’s not to duplicate what you did, but remember how you got to that place.”

 Learn more at www.ascap.com