Local Songwriter, Hilaire Charles, awarded $3,500 R&B grant by The Heineken Music Initiative/The ASCAP Foundation
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(l-r) are Sony/ATV's Bill Brown, ASCAP's Charis Henry and Damien West and Dunwoodie Communications' Erika Lewis. |
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ASCAP's Rhythm & Soul Creative team returned to Miami Beach to promote the latest installment of their popular SWAPmeet series. Overlooking the ocean, the Penthouse Suite at The Roney Palace Hotel was packed with writers, producers, artists and lyricists who gathered to develop collaborations, play music and mix with A&R reps, music publishers and other music industry professionals in a cool and relaxed setting. Attendees included Famous Music's Tanya Brown, Music of Windswept's Valerie Bisharat, Leotis Clyburn of Dreamworks, and Stone Stafford of Sony Music.
A highlight at the event was a special presentation of $3,500 to Hilaire Charles of Miami, the first recipient of The Heineken Music Initiative/The ASCAP Foundation R&B Grant program. Created in March 2002, the program is designed to assist emerging R&B songwriters in key music markets across the country (New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago and Miami). Hilaire's winning song "Beautiful Girl" was played during the event and was well received by the audience.
Previous SWAPmeet events have been held at various venues across the country including The Cotton Club in Atlanta, the Gig in Los Angeles, The Point of Destination Café in Philadelphia and New York's Shine nightclub. Participants have included She'kspere, Cody ChestnuTT, Warryn Campbell, DJ Quik, Jean Norris - formerly of Zhane, Big Jon Platt of EMI Music, Max Gouse of Epic Records, LaRonda Sutton of Universal and Big Chuck of Aftermath Records.
