The 11th Annual ASCAP “I Create Music” EXPO took place over the 3 days of April 28-30, 2016 at the Loews Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles.
Top events included a keynote interview with super-producer Timbaland, moderated by ASCAP’s Senior Vice President Nicole George Middleton, as well performances by Melissa Etheridge as well as other hit ASCAP songwriters at the ASCAP Annual Membership Meeting.
Day 1, which took place on Thursday, April 28, 2016, opened with an introductory performance by OMI singing his chart-topping hit, “Cheerleader.” Chris DeStefano, Brett James and Priscilla Renea performed their hit “Somethin’ Bad” (Melanie Lambert and Carrie Lambert). Later on, Melissa Etheridge shared personal music business advice before performing an acoustic version of her hit,“Come to My Window.”
Day 2 was highlighted by a keynote conversation with renowned producer Timbaland in which he treated the audience to his thoughts on what makes a hit song, his chemistry with Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z, and a lively audience Q&A that resulted in some impromptu auditions. Day 2 also featured master sessions with three-time ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year Ashley Gorley and Grammy-winning classical composer and conductor Eric Whitacre. James Fauntleroy, the Grammy-winning co-writer on Rihanna’s ANTI, also presented an unusual live music master session that had his 1500 or Nothin’ crew playing and working on a song in real-time. Fauntleroy also shared his personal philosophies on how to be more creative.
The featured panel on Day 3 of the EXPO was “Your Music, Your Rights: Building a Sustainable Future for Music.” US Representative Ted Lieu (D-CA), ASCAP President Paul Williams, songwriter Kevin Kadish and ASCAP General Counsel Clara Kim discussed the challenges of reforming the music licensing regulations that disadvantage songwriters in the free market. They issued a call to action to songwriters to make their voices heard in the fight.
The ASCAP’ “I Create Music” EXPO closed on Saturday afternoon with The Writers Jam. The event featured LaShawn Daniels, contributor to Lady Gaga’s “Telephone;” Destiny’s Child’s “Say My Name”, Chris DeStefano who helped write Luke Bryan’s “That’s My Kind of Night”, Audra Mae, writer for Kelly Clarkson’s “Heartbeat Song” and Miranda Lambert’s “Little Red Wagon” and Priscilla Renea who worked on Pitbull & Kesha’s “Timber,” telling stories and performing some of their own songs.
The 3 days of the ASCAP “I Create Music” EXPO were filled with celebrations and performances by and for songwriters of all types, as well as moments of advice on behalf of the artists to the audiences lucky enough to be there.
