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 2009, BMI collected over $905 million in licensing fees and distributed $788 million in royalties.

BMI songwriters create all forms of music in all genres, from mainstream pop and country, to death metal. BMI represents artists such as Mariah Carey, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Eminem, Rihanna and Shakira; bands as diverse as Maroon 5, Evanescence, Nickelback, Linkin Park, Lady Antebellum and Death; 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.

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. As such, BMI created competition in the field of performing rights, providing an alternative source of licensing for all music users.

Onika Tanya Maraj (born December 8, 1982), known by her stage name Nicki Minaj ( /mɪˈnɑːʒ/), is a Trinidadian-born American rapper and singer-songwriter. She was born in Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago and when she was 5 years of age she moved to the New York City borough of Queens, where she grew up.

After releasing three mixtapes between 2007 and 2009 and being signed to Young Money Entertainment in August 2009, Minaj released her debut album, Pink Friday, in November 2010. It quickly became a commercial success, peaking at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 and being certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) a month after its release. She became the first female solo artist to have seven singles on the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time. Her second single, "Your Love", reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot Rap Songs chart, making Minaj the first female artist to top the chart unaccompanied since 2002. She also became the first female artist to be included on MTV's Annual Hottest MC List. Minaj was named the 2011 Rising Star by Billboard. Her second studio album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded was released on April 3, 2012.

John Joseph Lydon (born 31 January 1956), also known by the former stage name Johnny Rotten, is a singer-songwriter and television presenter, best known as the lead singer of punk rock band the Sex Pistols from 1975 until 1978, and again for various revivals during the 1990s and 2000s. He is the lead singer of the post-punk band Public Image Ltd, which he founded and fronted from 1978 until 1993, and again from 2009. Throughout his career, Lydon has made controversial or dismissive comments about the royal family and other subjects. There has been a recent revival of a 1980s movement to have Lydon knighted for his achievements with the Sex Pistols. Q Magazine remarked that "somehow he's assumed the status of national treasure."

Lydon's personally crafted image and fashion style led to him being asked to become the singer of the Sex Pistols by their manager, Malcolm McLaren. With the Pistols, he penned singles including "Anarchy in the U.K.", "God Save the Queen" and "Holidays in the Sun", the content of which precipitated the "last and greatest outbreak of pop-based moral pandemonium" in Britain. The band caused nationwide uproar in much of the media, who objected to the content of Lydon’s lyrics, and their antics, which included swearing on live television, in which Steve Jones called Bill Grundy a "fucking rotter". Due to the band's appearance in the media, Lydon was largely seen as the figurehead of the punk movement in the public image although this idea was not widely supported amongst the punk movement itself. Despite the negative reaction that they provoked, they are now regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of popular music.

Morten Harket (born 14 September 1959) is a Norwegian musician, best known as the lead singer of the Norwegian synthpop/rock band A-ha, which released nine studio albums and topped the charts in several countries after their breakthrough hit "Take on Me" in 1985. A-ha disbanded in 2010. Harket has also released five solo albums. Before joining A-ha in 1982, Harket appeared on the Oslo club scene as the singer for blues outfit Soldier Blue.

The trio, composed of lead vocalist Harket, guitarist Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (Pål Waaktaar until his marriage in 1991), and keyboardist Magne Furuholmen, formed in 1982, and left Norway for London in order to make a career in the music business. They chose the studio of musician, producer, and soon-to-be-manager, John Ratcliff, because it had a Space Invaders machine. John Ratcliff introduced the boys to his manager, Terry Slater, and, after a few meetings, A-ha had two managers. Terry Slater and John Ratcliff together formed T.J. Management. Ratcliff dealt with all the technical and musical aspects; Slater was the international business manager and liaison to Warner Brothers' head office. The band says the name A-ha comes from a title Paul contemplated giving to a song; he was dithering between the title "A-ha" and "A-hem". Morten was looking through Paul's notebook, and came across the name, which he liked, and immediately decided that was the right name.

Magne 'Mags' Furuholmen (Norwegian pronunciation: [mɑŋnə fu:ɾuhɔlmən]) (born 1 November 1962) is a Norwegian musician. He is best known as the guitarist and keyboardist of the pop band A-ha.

Furuholmen has been the keyboardist with A-ha since their formation in 1982, though he also plays guitar. He has co-written many of the band's hits with Paul Waaktaar-Savoy, including "Stay On These Roads", "Manhattan Skyline", and the band's first and biggest hit "Take on Me". When A-ha went on hiatus in 1994, Furuholmen began working on other music projects. The band reconvened in 2000, though announced they would split in 2010.

Furuholmen's projects outside of A-ha include Timbersound, formed in 1994 with Kjetil Bjerkestrand, and later, Swedish singer, Freddie Wadling. Their work has been used on film soundtracks such as Ti Kniver I Hjertet (1994), "Hotel Oslo" (1997) which also featured vocals by Anneli Drecker, 1732 Høtten (1998) where the album Hermetic is featured.

Furuholmen also recorded "Past Perfect Future Tense" in 2004, with appearances from Guy Berryman and Will Champion of Coldplay, and from Andy Dunlop of the Scottish band Travis.