Juanes to Receive (BMI) President’s Award

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Juanes will receive the BMI President’s Award at the 17^th annual BMI Latin Awards slated for March 4, 2010 at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. Hosted by BMI President & CEO Del Bryant and BMI Assistant Vice President, Latin Music Delia Orjuela, the invitation-only ceremony will recognize the songwriters and publishers of the past year’s top BMI Latin songs played on American radio and television.

The BMI President’s Award recognizes Juanes’ profound influence on Latin music on the worldwide stage and anticipates his future contributions to global culture. In receiving the BMI President’s Award, Juanes joins a small but elite list of past honorees that includes Emilio and Gloria Estefan, Willie Nelson, and 2009 recipients Taylor Swift and Brooks & Dunn.

Juanes is redefining international superstardom. While many contemporaries have recorded bilingual or English-language projects in the hunt for crossover success, Juanes has continued to write and record exclusively in Spanish. Soon after the release of his album Fijate Bien, Juanes has garnered 13 BMI Latin Awards, 18 Latin Grammy and Grammy awards, and Billboard’s title “Latin Star of the Decade.” Also named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine, Juanes is a leading humanitarian.
Through his Fundación Mi Sangre (Mi Sangre Foundation) and participation in Paz Sin Fronteras (Peace Without Borders) concerts, Juanes lends his voice to an array of socially conscious calls-to-action.

In addition to the presentation of the President’s Award, the ceremony will also recognize the Latin Song, Songwriter and Publisher of the Year.

Broadcast Music, Inc.® (BMI) is an American performing right organization that represents more than 400,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers in all genres of music and more than 6.5 million works.

BMI reported $905 million for its 2009 fiscal year in performing right collections. BMI has represented the most popular and beloved music from around the world for 70 years. The U.S. corporation collects license fees from businesses that use music, which it then distributes as royalties to the musical creators and copyright owners it represents.

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