Frances W. Preston

President and Chief Executive Officer


Called "one of the true powerhouses in the pop music business" by Fortune magazine, and honored as an executive who has "helped shape the entire music industry," BMI president and CEO Frances W. Preston has found success in her chosen field by combining business savvy with her love for music. By focusing attention on talent and ensuring that songwriters, composers and music publishers are quickly and accurately compensated for their efforts while providing the most valuable possible repertoire to the users of music, she has enriched both the creative and business music communities.
Preston joined the performing rights organization in 1958 after working in the music and broadcasting industries in Nashville. She opened BMI's southern regional office there, and quickly led the organization to a position of preeminence in the area. By signing many previously unknown writers and supporting the creation of new publishing operations, she helped heighten public awareness and acceptance of all forms of popular music, including the then overlooked genres of country, rhythm & blues, jazz and folk.
She was named Vice President in 1964 and, under her leadership, the southern operation grew from an initial staff of two -- Preston and one assistant -- to more than 400 employees housed in a building on Music Row that was opened in 1995.
Preston brought the same drive and business acumen to New York, becoming Senior Vice President of Performing Rights in 1985, and was appointed President and CEO in 1986. She is also a member of BMI's Board of Directors.
During her tenure as head of BMI, Preston has continued the company's tradition of leadership in performing rights, refocusing and expanding domestic licensing efforts to include many new categories of music customers. She also restructured the executive staff and attracted music industry and broadcast professionals to BMI, enhancing the company's ability to serve writers and publishers, music customers, and music itself.
Preston was elected President of the CISAC (International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers) Canada/USA Committee in 1998. Through her position on the CISAC Executive Bureau and her frequent trips to meet with BMI's sister organizations around the world, she has drawn BMI closer to the foreign performing rights societies. She has conferred with leaders of the Chinese government to discuss securing musical copyrights in the People's Republic, and has worked closely with many of the new copyright agencies in the Eastern European nations.
Preston has remained politically vigilant when it comes to the rights and incomes of songwriters, composers and publishers. She has vigorously supported the fight for legislation to assure fair compensation to songwriters and performers from the use of digital audio recorders, as well as from the performance of music on the Internet. She played a key role in extending copyright protection to older compositions through the Copyright Amendments Act of 1992 and was outwardly supportive of the recent legislation to extend the copyright term to life of the composer plus 70 years. She has for many years been in the vanguard of the fight against the so-called "source licensing" legislation that would mandate a one-time payment to the composer or songwriter in lieu of continuing payment for continuing use of music.
Even with the busy schedule that her position with BMI presents, Preston has played a vital role in a number of organizations, both inside and outside the music industry. In 1995 and 1996, she served on Vice President Al Gore's National Information Infrastructure Advisory Council. During the Administration of President Jimmy Carter, she served on both the Panama Canal Study Committee and the commission for the White House Record Library.
In keeping her position as a leading music business executive, Preston serves on the President's Advisory Council of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and on the board of directors for the NARAS Foundation. At the 1998 Grammy Awards, she received a National Trustees Award that was inscribed with the words: "To Frances Preston for 40 years of tireless efforts in support of the world's songwriters, singers and musicians." The Trustees Grammy statuette is the highest award given by the Recording Academy to a non-performer. In January 1999, she was honored as Person of the Year at the annual MIDEM convention in Cannes, France, the highest international award accorded to music industry executives.
She is Vice President of the National Music Council and of the National Academy of Popular Music/Songwriters Hall of Fame, a board member of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation, a former board member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and a past member of the National Advisory Board of the George Foster Peabody Awards. She has served on the Film, Entertainment and Music Commission Advisory Council of the State of Tennessee and the Recording Industry Advisory Board of Middle Tennessee State University College of Mass Communication, and is currently a member of the Business Board of Advisors of Belmont University in Nashville.
Preston is a lifetime member of the board of directors of the Country Music Association -- one of only five individuals to be so honored -- and served as President and Chairperson of the board. She is also a lifetime board member of the Gospel Music Association, where she served as Chairperson and President, as well as a lifetime member of the Nashville Songwriters Association International. She was the first non-performing woman invited to join New York's prestigious Friar's Club. In 1993, she became the first woman appointed to their Board of Directors and was the recipient of the Friar's Foundation Applause Award.
She has selflessly volunteered her time and effort to many of America's most worthy charities and her invaluable contributions have been duly recognized. She is President of the T.J. Martell Foundation for Leukemia, Cancer and AIDS Research and the recipient of its 1992 Humanitarian Award. Her involvement has led to the creation of the Frances Williams Preston Research Laboratories at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Medical Center, a cancer research lab named in her honor. In February 2000, Vanderbilt's Medical Research Building II, the focal point for the VICC's research, was also named in her honor. She also serves on the Vanderbilt University Cancer Center Board of Overseers. Her leadership in the Martell Foundation's groundbreaking work in cancer research was recognized in early 1999 by the Society for the Advancement of Women's Health Research, an organization that focuses the attention of policy makers on funding for women's health issues.
In 1991, she received the Barry Dean Fulton Award for Humanitarian Service from United Cerebral Palsy of Middle Tennessee. She received the Nashville Entertainment Association's Master Award and the Humanitarian Award at the Second Annual International Achievement Awards in New York in 1995. In 1996, she received the first Distinguished Service Award from New York's Elaine Kaufman Cultural Center and the Lester Sill Humanitarian Award presented at the Retinitis Pigmentosa International Awards in Beverly Hills. She was honored in 1997 with a gala "Toast to Frances" hosted by the Entertainment and Music Industries Division of the UJA-Federation and received the International Achievement in Arts 1997 Woman of the Year Award for "Worldwide Humanitarian Efforts." In April 1999, Preston was honored as an American Broadcast Pioneer by the Broadcasters' Foundation for her more than 40 years of contributions to the American entertainment industry and in November 1999, she was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame. She was most recently honored in October 2000 by the City of Hope with their annual "Spirit of Life" Award.

Preston was singled out by Esquire magazine as "the most influential and powerful person in the country music business." She was profiled by Fortune in the article, "The Year's Most Fascinating Business People." Savvy magazine's feature described the Preston magic as "coming as much from her empathy as her business power. She has a gift, the ability to make everyone she touches feel special, golden." Ladies' Home Journal listed her as one of the "50 Most Powerful Women In America" and Entertainment Weekly placed her second in its Top 10 listing of "The Powers of Country Music." Over the years, she has been listed as one of the most powerful people in the music industry by Business Nashville, BAM, Radio Ink and Hits. In 1997, she was one of only ten business women featured in Rolling Stone's "Women in Rock" special issue.
Included among other awards Preston has received is the Women's Equity Action League (WEAL) Achievement Award, presented to only five women each year, honoring her as one of "America's outstanding women in business and labor." Vanderbilt University School of Law honored her with the Distinguished Leadership Award in 1986. In 1988, Preston was the recipient of American Women in Radio and Television's Outstanding Achievement Award and in September 1998, she received AWRT's President's Award. She holds honorary degrees from the Berklee School of Music (Boston), Lincoln College (Lincoln, Illinois) and Oklahoma University (Tulsa, Oklahoma).
Preston was honored with the Irving Waugh Award of Excellence at the 1987 Country Music Association Awards, presented for only the second time in CMA history. In presenting the award, which is given for contributions that have "dramatically broadened and improved country music's influence," the CMA board said of Preston: "Her intelligence, her incredible administrative talents and her boundless energy have helped shape not only country music, but the entire music industry." In September 1992, Preston was inducted into the CMA Hall of Fame, the highest honor in the country music community.