Wordsmith Receives ASCAP Honors
Baltimore, MD (September 2011) – ASCAP, the leading artist performing rights protection organization, has honored independent artist, writer and producer, Wordsmith, with the 2011-2012 ASCAPLUS Award. This prestigious award program is for active writers in the early/mid-stages of their careers and established writers whose main activity is outside of the broadcast media. Wordsmith, one of the DMV’s most prolific artists and writers, was considered for the award after receiving several musical placements in major TV shows like “The Defender” (CBS), Design Squad Nation (PBS), 40 Most Shocking Breakups (VH1), ABC’s Most Fascinating People, Donald J Trump’s Fabulous World of Golf (Golf Channel), Six Flags Radio and more.
Wordsmith won the top honors in the ASCAPLUS “Popular Division”, lead by industry pros, Peter Filichia, Peter Keepnews, Brian Mansfiels, Melinda Newman and Pat Prescott. ASCAPLUS Awards are based on panel review of recent activity of writer applicants. Each applicant is considered on merit and in the context of all others applying. ASCAPLUS is not a contest or competition involving the critical evaluation of any specific work or works. The primary basis for panel determinations is the activity generated by each member’s catalog, with emphasis on recent performances.
More than just a domestic presence, Wordsmith and his New Revolution label are also well respected internationally. Jerry Doby, an executive with Joint One Radio, Tokyo Japan says “Wordsmith and his label mates are one of the reasons American Urban Music continues to have such an impact worldwide. We are very proud to feature his music on our stations here in Japan.”
ASCAP is home to the greatest names in American music, past and present — from Duke Ellington to Dave Matthews, from George Gershwin to Stevie Wonder, from Leonard Bernstein to Beyoncé, from Marc Anthony to Alan Jackson, from Henry Mancini to Howard Shore — as well as many thousands of writers in the earlier stages of their careers.
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is a membership association of more than 410,000 U.S. composers, songwriters, lyricists, and music publishers of every kind of music. Through agreements with affiliated international societies, ASCAP also represents hundreds of thousands of music creators worldwide. ASCAP is the only U.S. performing rights organization created and controlled by composers, songwriters and music publishers, with a Board of Directors elected by and from the membership.
ASCAP protects the rights of its members by licensing and distributing royalties for the non-dramatic public performances of their copyrighted works. ASCAP’s licensees encompass all who want to perform copyrighted music publicly. ASCAP makes giving and obtaining permission to perform music simple for both creators and users of music.
WORDSMITH is very accomplished in his personal and professional life with a B.A. in Theatre Arts, an independent label called NU Revolution Entertainment LLC and an Internet radio station/blog called Revoltradio.com under his belt. Quite the businessman, Word has gained sponsorship deals for his mixtapes through HipHopgame, HipHopdx, AllHipHop, Coast 2 Coast Mixtapes and 2DopeBoyz to boost his career. In 2009 he teamed up with the Legendary Chubb Rock for his collaborative debut, “Bridging the Gap;” that charted on the CMJ/Top 30 College Charts. These deals afforded him the opportunity to gain marketing/distribution deals with Joint One LLC in Japan, Prowax, GoDigital and Red Eye. Licensing deals with Nintendo Wii’s Madworld, CBS the Defenders, ABC’s Most Fascinating People of 2010, PBS Design Squad Nation, The Young Turks, and Six Flags Theme Parks punctuated a successful 2010-2011. Wordsmith’s solo debut, “Vintage Experience” scored two hit singles, “Hook-Up Hotline“ & “Tour Guide to New Bride”, on the Mediabase Indie/Mediaguide charts. Since 2005 Wordsmith has performed at major festival and shows like Artscape, A3C, Harrisonburg/Baltimore African American Heritage Festivals, DUB Magazine Car Show, SoB’s, Love, Sonar and many more.
With more than 20 independent artists taking home Grammy honors at the 2010 ceremonies of the Recording Academy (Grammy.com), awards such as these keep reminding us how relevant indie artists are to the music industry. They appear to be making their mark more and more as the general audience tires of the “same-ole-thing”.
Related articles
