We’ve all heard the sob stories: singer writes great song, song gets airplay and used in commercials, songwriter gets no royalty checks. Byron Wright, associate director at BMI is making sure that tale isn’t told as often.
“It’s shocking the number of phone calls I get from writers and producers who aren’t aware of the amount of money they can make by simply handling their business,” says Wright, who graduated from the University of West Georgia.
As associate director at BMI, Wright is responsible for bringing new talent to the corporation and maintaining relationships with existing songwriters, producers and music publishers. Wright assists with the coordination and creation of songwriter events, showcases and seminars both locally and nationally, including the popular BMI Urban Awards. In addition, he assists BMI affiliates and executives with creative and administrative functions.
An Atlanta native, Wright got his start in high school, as an intern at So So Def. From there he moved to Lil Jon’s BME and later joined OutKast at Aquemini.
“When I was an intern, I did whatever I had to do,” says Wright, who also hosts a weekly showcase Tuesday night called Feng Shui at Atlanta’s Sambuca Jazz Café. “It’s the little things that let people know you’re capable of doing the big things.”
Eventually Wright met his current boss, VP Catherine Brewton at an event, and landed at BMI. Over the years he’s worked with a slew of talent including Soulja Boy, Lloyd, DJ Montay, Jasper Cameron and Bobby V.
“The best aspect of what I do is those days when we’re in the studio and you get to witness the creation of music,” he says. “For someone like myself, who loves music, that’s fulfilling.” –jacinta howard
