Starting on April 19, Quadio and BMI launched their joint “Spring Songwriting Club” program, a free five-week online educational initiative for college-age songwriters to build connections and skills. Quadio is a college creative network that provides a space for young talent to make connections in the art, entertainment and tech industries through their interest in music. Their goal is to bridge the gap between what fans see and what goes into that final product by curating opportunities for students to connect with industry leaders. With over 13,000 members of the Quadio community —including artists like 24kGoldn, Ayoni and Tiffany Day — they have been highly successful at achieving that goal. Broadcast Music, Inc.® (BMI®) is a global leader in music rights management, representing over 1.1 million songwriters, composers and music publishers. BMI negotiates music license agreements and distributes royalties to their artists when their songs are performed in public, so their involvement this year in Quadio’s annual “Songwriting Club” provides current participants with an inside look into the potential career applications for the skills they build during this program. 

The program started off with an orientation with BMI, and then songwriters began their collaborative weekly workshops. Each week, they are given a prompt to create a new track, covering a range of genres and working both independently and with groups. They then share their tracks in hour-long group workshops every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to provide each other with feedback and share ideas. Through these sessions, songwriters improve both their own skills and develop a more critically honed eye in examining others’ work. The program welcomes all experience levels, so whether it is your first time taking a pen to paper or you have a notebook full of songs to share, the Spring Songwriting Club will develop your personal areas of improvement. Students can also learn about the music industry, how to apply the skills they are learning and make industry connections through one-on-one mentoring sessions hosted by BMI every other Thursday. The program was previously capped at 100 participants, but in light of the pandemic and increased demand for online services the maximum number of participants is now 200, and Quadio plans to increase its capacity for its other programs going forward as well. 

To spread the word about this unique opportunity, Quadio and BMI partnered with WMA, a global marketing agency that specializes in helping talent and brands connect with their target audience, which in this case is eager and talented college students. 

“We have worked closely with the team at BMI in the past and we thought this would be a great opportunity for all involved. Performance rights are an incredibly important aspect of every songwriters journey but are also notoriously confusing. With BMI’s involvement we will be able to educate our audience on such an important topic while also providing our valuable club experience that our community has grown to know and love,” WMA’s Jenna Barrott said.

Barrott stressed that the partnership with BMI not only helps participants make industry connections and explore career options, but also learn about their rights as songwriters so that if they choose to publish their work, they can properly protect it. She adds that this program emphasizes the benefits of building a creative network. 

“It’s so important to take initiative and to network and build your creative crew. Quadio definitely offers a lot of great resources for students looking to break in as well. Beyond our songwriting clubs and retreats we also have our Profesh Sesh series, where we invite industry professionals to tell their stories and answer questions. Also, our Discord is a great place to ask questions, seek feedback, and connect with our network,” Barrott said. 

Coming from more than 1,000 universities, participants have varying backgrounds, skill levels and interests. Building relationships with such a diverse group allows participants to learn and have fun in a supportive, goal-oriented environment of like-minded artists. While the Colgate network is certainly extensive and useful, this program provides an opportunity for the musically-inclined to cultivate relationships with fellow college students and professionals specifically dedicated to supporting their development and ambitions.