ASCAP's third annual ASCAP "I Create Music" EXPO highlights a week of honoring and strengthening the music creator community

ASCAP’S Erik Philbrook and Bon Jovi

ASCAP's third annual "I Create Music" EXPO featured incredible interviews with musical luminaries Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, Steve Miller and Jackson Browne. And that was just day one of this year’s conference, part of ASCAP’s “I Create Music” Week, which also included ASCAP’s Pop Music Awards held at the Kodak Theatre and a reception honoring Stephen Schwartz as he received his own star on Hollywood Boulevard. The first day of the EXPO began with ASCAP's 2008 General Annual MembershipMeeting atwhich ASCAP President & ChairmanMarilyn Bergman launched a Bill of Rights for Songwriters and Composers. The day ended with an entertaining writer-producer panel featuring Glen Ballard, Linda Perry, Mike Bradford and Mark Hudson performing some of their best-loved songs and sharing valuable insights into their creative process.

ASCAP's "I Create Music" EXPO covered an extraordinary range of topics of great importance to today’s songwriters and composers. Panels covering everything from music publishing, production music, online rights in Europe and online marketing to navigating today's Nashville scene, how to make money in the ad/promo market and music supervision and more were filled to capacity. Top panels included One Step Ahead: Staying on Top in R&B and Hip Hop, featuring Greg Watkins, Chamillionaire, Bun B, Ivan Barias and Carvin Haggins; Word Wise: The Art and Craft of Lyric Writing featuring Alan & Marilyn Bergman, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Walt Aldridge and Jimmy Webb; and The Long Run, featuring David Paich, Jackie DeShannon, Billy Steinberg and Steve Kipner.

The third day began with a serious and spirited discussion on Copyright featuring Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) and the Register of United States Copyrights Marybeth Peters on a panel hosted by ASCAP President and Chairman Marilyn Bergman. Numerous panels throughout the day explored a wide range of topics including audio production and engineering, alternative routes to success, music publishing, the anatomy of a video game score(Garry Schyman’s BioShock), Desmond Child's writing and production approach and much more. An all-star panel of songwriters and composers closed this year's EXPO with an informative and entertaining cross-genre discussion featuring John Rzeznik, Johntà Austin, Rivers Rutherford, John Debney and Julio Reyes.

This year’s EXPO attracted the participation of more than 45 exhibitors and sponsors who helped to expand and enhance the experience for attendees. Special sponsor sessions presented by Apple, Roland, Notion, Mediaguide and Linkedin gave attendees a chance to discover the latest music technology. Gibson sponsored two Jam Rooms, filled with instruments, that fostered networking, collaboration and hours of musical fun. For early birds, there were breakfast sessions presented by esessions.com, who explored online collaboration and Serling, Rooks & Ferrara, LLP who fielded legal questions.

While the EXPO continues to grow, and attendees provide valuable feedback, ASCAP further designs the programming to meet the needs of the attendees. One hallmark of the EXPO has beenthe intimate and personal nature of some the programming, such as the One on One sessions and the Song Listening Panels. Other panels this year offered great opportunities for interactivity, such as the Film Your Issue Panel and Writing to Track with Midi Mafia, which offered attendees the opportunity to submit music in advance to be used in the session.

The 2008 ASCAP "I Create Music" EXPO concluded with a closing night reception at The Highlands sponsored by ole music publishing and Innovation Entertainment that featured performances from a talented group of this year’s attendees. Fittingly, the final performance featured the debut of a song that was created during the EXPO in the Gibson Jam Room. Symbolically, it represented everything the EXPO has come to stand for: a music community coming together, connecting, learning from each other, collaborating and creating more music!


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Recognizing the opportunity the most serious music creators in America, the 2008 EXPO welcomed 50 exhibitors and sponsors to the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel. ASCAP would like to thank all of them for making this year’s event such a success: Dymo DiscPainter, Gibson, Indie 911, Shure, Notion, Roland, SoundExchange, City National Bank, Cakewalk, Disc Makers, The Recording Academy, Ole, West L.A. Music, Etymotic Research, Seagate Technologies, M-Audio, Innovation Entertainment, Killer Tracks, Worldwide Credit and Financial Solutions, Linkedin, MTraks, Korg, AllHipHop.com, Billboard, Harry Fox Agency, MusicPro Insurance, Mediaguide, Nimbit, Noisy Planet, USAlliance, Broadjam, eSession.com, Masterwriter, The Music Business Registry, Music Sales Corp., Numark Alesis, Songs to Your Eyes, Solid State Logic, REO Songwriter Retreats, American Songwriter, Taxi, The USA Songwriting Competition, Musician’s Atlas, Sennheiser, PreSonus Audio Electronics, Serling, Rooks & Ferrara, LLP, The Village Recording Studios, Travel Wellness and the EXPO’s technology partner, Apple, Inc.

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