The Board of Directors of BMI has extended the contract of BMI President & CEO Mike O’Neill for an additional three years, through December 31, 2029.

O’Neill has been with BMI for 30 years.

Prior to his current role, he oversaw all aspects of BMI’s Creative team and Domestic Licensing and revenue generation, while also managing royalty distributions and administrative services groups.

O’Neill joined BMI in 1994 as Director, Group and National Accounts from CBS-TV Network, and held a number of roles of increasing responsibility throughout his tenure, including Vice President, Media Licensing and Administration and Senior Vice President, Sales Administration, Licensing and Repertoire.

In September of 2013, O’Neill was named Chief Executive Officer and assumed the additional title of President in July of 2014.

BMI represents the public performance rights in over 22.4 million musical works created and owned by more than 1.4 million songwriters, composers, and music publishers.

News of O’Neill’s contract extension at BMI arrives just over a year after New Mountain Capital completed its acquisition of the US performing rights organization.

NMC, which has over USD $45 billion in assets under management, confirmed in November 2023 that it would “lead a shareholder group” to acquire a majority stake in BMI.

As part of the transaction, BMI’s former shareholders allocated $100 million of the proceeds of the sale to the PRO’s songwriter, composer and publisher “affiliates” in “recognition of [their] creativity”.

O’Neill oversaw the administration of the allocation of that $100 million to songwriters, composers and publishers as a result of the sale.

According to BMI, over the past year, O’Neill has overseen a number of other initiatives that the rights organization claims “reinforce BMI’s mission to protect and grow the value of its affiliates’ music”.

These include increasing distributions for BMI’s songwriters, composers and publishers by 13% YoY in FY 2024, according to the company.

BMI also said that it has expanded its headcount to “support the company’s service upgrades and value creation plans” and is investing in BMI’s technology to improve its product development and services.

Meanwhile, BMI noted that it has also unveiled new online dashboards that provide songwriters and composers with insight into their royalty payments, launched a new call center to improve customer service, and partnered with Music Nation to establish a licensing infrastructure in the UAE.

In addition, BMI noted that the company has hired three “seasoned executives” for the roles of Chief Financial Officer (Martijn Tel), Chief Technology Officer (Tom Kershaw) and the newly created role of Chief Transformation Officer (Justin Rohde), responsible for identifying new revenue sources and opportunities for BMI’s affiliates.

“Under Mike O’Neill’s leadership, BMI has grown into the most successful performing rights organization in the business.”

Pete Masucci, New Mountain Capital / BMI

Pete Masucci, Managing Director, New Mountain Capital and Chair of the BMI Board, said: “Under Mike O’Neill’s leadership, BMI has grown into the most successful performing rights organization in the busines.

“With Mike’s ongoing guidance, BMI will continue to deliver on its commitment to modernize its infrastructure, invest in new technology and services and grow the value of its songwriters, composers and publishers’ music.

“Our decision to grant this extension demonstrates the confidence we have in Mike and the BMI team as they continue to innovate on behalf of the music creators they represent and ensure their ability to thrive in a changing industry.”

“I have never been more optimistic about the future of BMI, and there are only greater things ahead.”

Mike O’Neill 

O’Neill added: “I have never been more optimistic about the future of BMI, and there are only greater things ahead.

“BMI’s mission to drive value for our affiliates, increase our distributions and ensure the long-term success of our family of songwriters, composers and publishers continues at full speed.

“I am delighted the BMI Board and NMC have the confidence in me and the incredible BMI team as we continue to work on behalf of our affiliates and licensing partners, invest in our company and position BMI for continued growth.”Music Business Worldwide