ASCAP Marks Its 90th Year with Record Financial Results; America's First and Largest Performing Rights Organization Celebrates Nine Decades of Great Music.

Entertainment Editors/Business Editors

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 10, 2004

ASCAP Members Sweep Songwriting and Composition Grammy Awards 

ASCAP (The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) marks its 90th year with revenues reaching an all-time high of $668 million -- a 5.2 per cent increase over the prior year -- it was announced during the Society's annual West Coast Membership Meeting held at the

Beverly Hilton Hotel on Tuesday, February 10. ASCAP President & Chairman Marilyn Bergman chaired the meeting, which was attended by nearly 1000 members of ASCAP.

ASCAP CEO John LoFrumento made the announcement noting "2003 revenues were the best ever in the company's history, beating the previous all-time high of $646 million reported in 2001." The Society also reported an all-time low operating expense ratio of 13.9%, one of the lowest operating ratios in the world for a performing right society, and the lowest by far in the US.

"The development of new cutting-edge technology, such as Mediaguide, our continued focus on cost reduction, and our commitment to negotiating the best licensing deals for our members have contributed to our success, further establishing ASCAP as the leading Performing Rights Organization in the U.S.," said LoFrumento. "As a measure of what that success means to our members, over the past 3 years we have distributed over $1.6 BILLION."

Bergman and LoFrumento also reported on important legislative developments, technological innovations, the growth of ASCAP licensing efforts, and celebrated the 90th anniversary of ASCAP with a special screening of a commemorative video tracing the birth of ASCAP through to the new millennium.

ASCAP's Executive Vice President, Membership Group, Todd Brabec reviewed ASCAP's outstanding performance on the 2003 Billboard charts, and in major music awards and nominations, highlighting the exceptional achievements of 50 Cent, Sean "P.Diddy" Combs, Alan Jackson, Jay-Z, Beyonce Knowles, Missy Elliott, Nelly, OutKast, and Justin Timberlake, to name a few. Brabec was especially pleased to note that eight of the ten songwriting and composition awards presented at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards, which took place on February 8 in Los Angeles, were captured by ASCAP members. Multiple-award winners Beyonce, OutKast, Luther Vandross, Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake and the late June Carter Cash -- all members of ASCAP -- dominated the awards, and ASCAP members also received such top honors as Record of the Year (Coldplay), Album of the Year (OutKast) and Song of the Year (Richard Marx and Luther Vandross).

ASCAP's film and television music composers also had an exceptional year making their mark in prime time TV series and top box office hits including James Horner (House of Sand and Fog), Howard Shore (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King), Gabriel Yared (Cold Mountain); Sean Callery (24), Bruce Broughton (Eloise at the Plaza), and Bill Conti for outstanding musical direction for the 75th Annual Academy Awards. And, on Broadway, Marc Shaiman's hit musical Hairspray swept the Tony Awards with eight wins, including Best Musical and Best Original Score.

ASCAP's growing membership now numbers over 175,000 composer, lyricist and publisher members, an increase of more than 20,000 over the prior year. New additions to the ASCAP family in 2003 include American Idol sensations Kelly Clarkson and Ruben Studdard, The All-American Rejects, Chingy, The Darkness, G-Unit, Hillary Duff, Natalia Lafourcade, Jason Mraz, Sin Bandera, Tego Calderon, among many others. Prominent composers include David Vanacore (Survivor, Joe Millionaire, Temptation Island, VH1 Behind the Music, NYPD Blue); Roger Neill (King of the Hill, UC Undercover, The Simple Life); Dwayne Wayans (My Wife and Kids); Jonathan Kimmel (Man Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live); and actor and songwriter Thad Luckinbill (The Young and the Restless).

ASCAP is the only U.S. performing rights organization to hold meetings open to all members. Three are held annually, in Los Angeles, New York, and for the first time, a meeting will be held this year in Atlanta. Prior to each meeting, ASCAP members can attend special pre-meeting seminars. This year's seminar entitled "ASCAP Innovations for Member Success" included a demonstration of Mediaguide - a state-of-the-art performance tracking service; new web tools, an update on MusicPro Insurance, and more career building initiatives.

February 2004 marks the 90th anniversary of the founding of ASCAP. As the world's largest performing rights organization, ASCAP has over 175,000 composer, lyricist and music publisher members representing all genres of music. ASCAP is committed to protecting the rights of its members by licensing and collecting royalties for the public performance of their copyrighted works, and then distributing these fees to the Society's members based on performances. ASCAP's Board of Directors is made up solely of writers and publishers, elected by the membership every two years.