  broadcast music, inc. (bmi) is one of three united states performing rights organizations, along with ascap and sesac. it collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed. in fy 2013, bmi collected more than $944 million in licensing fees and distributed $814 million in royalties. bmi songwriters create all forms of music in all genres, from mainstream pop and country, to death metal and even hip hop. bmi represents artists such as fifth harmony, lil wayne, birdman, mariah carey, lady gaga, taylor swift, eminem, rihanna and shakira; bands as diverse as maroon 5, evanescence, nickelback and linkin park; legends such as sam cooke, willie nelson, fats domino and dolly parton; as well as composers such as harry gregson-williams, john williams and danny elfman and musical songwriters richard & robert sherman. ==history== in the 1930s, radio was coming to prominence as a source of musical entertainment that threatened to weaken record sales and opportunities for "live" acts. the great depression was already draining artist revenues from recordings and live performances. ascap, the pre-eminent royalty/licensing agency for more than two decades, required radio stations to subscribe to "blanket" licenses granting ascap a fixed percentage of each station's revenue, regardless of how much music the station played from ascap's repertoire. in 1939, ascap announced a substantial increase in the revenue share licensees would be required to pay. bmi was founded by the national association of broadcasters to provide a lower-cost alternative to ascap.{{cite journal | title = nab creates $1,500,000 music project | last 
1939_establishments_in_the_United_States Copyright_collection_societies Music_industry_associations Music_organizations_based_in_the_United_States Organizations_based_in_New_York_City Organizations_established_in_1939 United_States_copyright_law