David Stark at MIDEM 2011 with Cathi Ogden of APRA

LONDON, January 2012: David Stark, Editor/Publisher of SongLink and Cuesheet, will be attending his 35th MIDEM in Cannes, France from January 28th-31st, having been a regular face at the event since 1976. One of his primary reasons for going is to seek out new opportunities for subscribers of SongLink to pitch songs to international artists & labels, and for subscribers of Cuesheet to pitch music and songs to Film & TV music supervisors. He's also there to meet & greet friends old and new, and pick up new clients for the worldwide subscription-based service, which is now approaching 20 years of successful operation.

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The Country Music Association's popular CMA Songwriters Series is coming to the U.K. and Ireland for the first time and dates have been announced for London, Belfast, and Dublin. The international tour will be known as CMA & BMI Present the CMA Songwriters Series and CMA is delighted to partner with BMI and Gibson Guitar Corp. for the series.

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Barbara Orbison

LOS ANGELES, CA - December 6, 2011: Barbara Orbison, widow of Rock and Roll legend, Roy Orbison, passed away today after a courageous battle against pancreatic cancer. She was 60 years old. Barbara was diagnosed with the disease on April 20, 2011 at the Mayo Clinic. In May of 2011, she was admitted to USC Medical Center in Los Angeles under the supervision of Dr. Heinz-Josef Lenz, Associate Director of the USC/Norris Gastrointestinal Oncology Program. On May 13, Barbara underwent the Whipple surgical procedure, performed by Dr. Yuri Genyk. Following her surgery and chemotherapy, Barbara was optimistic about her recovery, but complications from the cancer ultimately resulted in a final re-admittance to USC Medical Center in mid-November. She died peacefully there today with her sons, Roy Kelton Orbison, Jr. (41) and Alexander Orbison (36) by her side.

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The SongLink Saboteurs table

London, November 17th: At the 22nd annual Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy Pop Quiz, the "SongLink Saboteurs" came 2nd out of 20 music industry teams, narrowly missing out to Wise Buddah/Box Music who have won the highly competitive tournament every year for the past seven years. SongLink publisher David Stark commented, "I am totally chuffed with such a great result, it was a real team effort and in many attendees' eyes we were the real winners, as the Wise Buddah team (headed by former BBC DJ Mark Goodier) are getting rather predictable after all this time, much as we love them. Most of the quizzers would like to see a change at the top, which we sincerely hope to accomplish at next year's event."

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Paul Williams (ASCAP President), David Stark, Hal David, Randy Bachman

London, UK, November 2, 2011: ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) held its 31st annual Awards at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. Hosted by ASCAP Senior Vice President, International Roger Greenaway and Vice President, Membership Seán Devine, the gala dinner and awards presentation honored those songwriter, composer and publisher members of PRS for Music - the UK's Performing Right Society - whose repertory is licensed by ASCAP and was among its most performed works in the U.S. during 2010.

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ASCAP 2011 Songwriters Retreat Participants

ASCAP hosted a high-level Songwriters Retreat at the 14th century, medieval Château Marouatte in the Dordogne region of Perigord Vert in France from October 1 - 7, 2011. The Retreat brought together top songwriters from the US and UK, who stayed at the Chateau for seven days amidst its medieval tapestries, stained glass, four-poster beds, suits of armor and Gothic furniture.

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Queen's Roger Taylor & Brian May with Del Bryant

BMI celebrated Europe and Asia's premier songwriters, composers and music publishers on Tuesday October 4th during its annual BMI London Awards. Guests filled London's Dorchester Hotel, Park Lane to toast the past year's most-performed songs on U.S. radio and television. Songwriters and composers honored at the event are members of European and Asian performing right societies and are represented in the U.S. by BMI. Legendary rock band Queen were honored as BMI Icons. All songwriters, vocalist Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and bassist John Deacon join a list of previous honorees that includes Donovan, Peter Gabriel, Don Black, Bryan Ferry, Ray Davies, Van Morrison and more.

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David Stark & Paul McCartney

David Stark presented SongLink Prizes to two students of LIPA at the annual Graduation Dy ceremony in Liverpool on Friday July 29th, attended by Paul McCartney who handed out certificates to over 300 graduates of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. This year's SongLink Prize winners were Lewis Fieldhouse and Evelyn Burke, who both received cheques and free subscriptions to SongLink as part of their prize package.

Also attending the event, held at Liverpool's Philharmonic Hall, was the UK's top-selling black artist Billy Ocean who was made a Companion of LIPA, as was Caroline Elleray of Universal Music Publishing, along with others in the world of music, dance and theatre. Renowned Liverpool broadcaster and author Spencer Leigh was made an Honoured Friend of LIPA, with the ceremony hosted as ever by LIPA Principal Mark Featherstone-Witty. Lead Patron Sir Paul McCartney gave his annual speech reminiscing about his school days at the old Liverpool Institute, and how it was eventually purchased by 1990 to be transformed into LIPA.

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British singer/songwriter Amy Winehouse died on July 23rd 2011 aged 27, at her home in Camden Town, London just a mile from SongLink's offices. She is pictured at the Ivor Novello Awards 2008 with her father Mitch, after picking up the award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically, one of three Ivors wins for songwriting. Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Her 2006 follow-up album, Back to Black, led to six Grammy Award nominations and five wins, tying the then record for the most wins by a female artist in a single night, and made Winehouse the first British female to win five Grammys, including three of the "Big Four": Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Song of the Year. (Photo: David Stark).

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Seattle, WA. USA - The judges for the fifth Indie International Songwriting Contest have announced their winners! The five first place songwriters will be awarded as follows: Tracy Newman (Los Angeles, CA) - Folk, Mike Lewis (Scranton, PA) - Americana/Country, Joelle Maddyson (Nashville, TN) - Pop, Malte Vief (Leipzig, Germany) - Instrumental and The Windy City: Culthane, Correia & Correia (Cape Town, South Africa) - Rock. Hit Songwriter and this years' Pop judge Alex Forbes said "Excellent songs this year! What a pleasure, and an inspiration for my own writing!" Hit Songwriter and Country judge Alissa Moreno also commented "Judging was so challenging because the art was pure and honest!"

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Abbey Road Studios is still searching for original, unsigned and undiscovered composers of all ages until July 15th, as part of its worldwide anthem competition in celebration of the studios' 80th anniversary. Up to ten anthems will be selected and winners will join generations of legendary composers who have recorded their work at Abbey Road Studios. The prize is a recording of their work in Abbey Road's Studio One with some of the UK's finest singers and the London Symphony Orchestra.

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Singer/songwriter Andrew Gold (59) sadly passed away on June 3rd 2011 in Los Angeles of a heart attack, having suffered renal cancer over the past few years. Best known for his 70's hits "Lonely Boy", "Thank You For Being A Friend", "Never Let Her Slip Away" and "Stay", he was a multi-talented musician, singer, producer and songwriter having worked with some of the top names in the business. SongLink editor David Stark knew him through mutual pal Graham Gouldman of 10cc, with whom Gold formed the hit duo Wax in 1983, and commented, "I hadn't seen Andrew for some while, but he always was, and still is, one of my favourite songwriters of all time. It's a very sad loss to the industry, but I'm sure his hits will continue to be played on UK radio for many years to come."

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London, May 18th 2011. Last night, the House of Commons played host to the seventh PPL sponsored Parliamentary Jazz Awards which was attended by a record number of MPs and peers, showing a cross-party love of jazz. Hosted by broadcaster Paul Gambaccini, many MPs, Peers and renowned jazz musicians were present on the night including Jamie Cullum, Dame Cleo Laine (who was honoured with a Special Award) and Lord David Steel of Aikwood. The full list of winners follows...

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The Ivor Novello Awards are capable of arousing strong emotions among Britain's songwriter/publisher community, well into their sixth decade. In an exclusive report for SongLink, former Billboard global news editor Tom Ferguson asks some key industry players and current nominees their opinion of the prestigious awards ceremony, and what winning an Ivor actually means.

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Norman Hamilton (President, WAFA), Martin Pursey (PRS rep, Malta), Figen Cakmak (Senior VP, WAFA), Robert Cefai (Secretary General, WAFA) and David Stark (SongLink International)

Malta, May 4th 2011: At the second AGM and General Assembly of WAFA, the World Association of (Song) Festivals & Artists, SongLink International editor/publisher David Stark was confirmed as an Honorary Vice-President of the organisation, along with former Eurovison winner Anne-Marie David (France), Maire Maloney (Ireland) and three others. WAFA was formed in 2009 following the demise of FIDOF, the festival association formed in 1966 by the late Prof. Armando Moreno, who died in 2005 shortly after celebrating the organisation's 40th anniversary at MIDEM.

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Tony Moore, Lynsey De Paul, Tony Christie and David Stark

City Showcase: Spotlight London 2011 - the capital's New Music festival - has announced its industry workshop programme and inaugural student music week event in association with the University of Westminster under the banner "Finding the Future" (running in addition to the main festival 9-11 May). Student bands will be performing in Cargo, Shoreditch (9, 10 & 11 May) and music industry experts and speakers will line-up in the famous Gibson Guitar Studio, Rathbone Street (9 & 10 May) to give the best advice to those breaking into the industry. The Apple Store Regent Street will also run hands on technical workshops from 5-7th May.

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London, April 19th: The announcement of nominations for the 56th Ivor Novello Awards were held at the Ivy Club, the event being hosted by Paul Gambaccini. Plan B and Everything Everything were both nominated for two awards, while other nominees include The xx, Katy B, Tinie Tempah, Kylie Minogue and Scouting For Girls. The 56th Ivor Novello Awards will be presented at London's Grosvenor House Hotel on May 19th. Pictured at the event are BASCA Chair Sarah Rogers, host Paul Gambaccini, nominee Conor O'Brien and PRS Chairman Guy Fletcher.

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Acclaimed singer/songwriter & composer Randy Edelman will be performing two exclusive live dates at The Pheasantry in London's King's Road on April 19/20th 2011. These will be his only live dates in the UK, in support of his upcoming new album, "The Pacific Flow To Abbey Road" (Cherry Red Records UK / Varese Sarabande USA). The BMI-honoured musician has appeared has written scores for many films, the latest of which is for "The Greening of Whitney Brown" starring Sammi Hanratty, Brooke Shields, Aidan Quinn and Kris Kristofferson, due later this year.

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Pam Robbins

Pam Robbins, co-founder of one of London's most respected songwriter showcases, sadly died on March 27th at the age of 69, after a short illness. The Original Songwriters (TOS) was started up in 1991 by Pam and Lisa Boni, being based for many years at The Orange in North End Road, west London, before moving a few years ago to east London's Fym Fyg Bar (formerly the Backyard Club), until late 2009.

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Plans for what would have been Roy Orbison's 75th birthday on April 23rd include the release of the Monument Singles Collection, plus a special "Birthday Bash" being held in London featuring SongLink Editor David Stark's tribute band The Trembling Wilburys...

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Rowena Morgan (BASCA), Tony Visconti & David Stark

London, UK: A host of music industry VIPs and celebrities filled London's Cafe de Paris last night for the 2011 Music Producers Guild Awards - an annual event that recognises the skill and talents of music recording professionals.

The top award for Producer of the Year - which also earned its winner a BRIT Award for Best Producer - went to Markus Dravs, who was nominated for his work as producer on Mumford & Sons album Sigh No More and his co-production work alongside the band on Arcade Fire's album The Suburbs. Dravs was presented with both his Music Producers Guild and BRIT awards by Chris Martin from Coldplay, whose album he is currently producing...

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David Stark, Judd Lander, David Mindel & Ron McCreight

SongLink editor/publisher David Stark attended the annual MIDEM trade fair in Cannes, France and met up with many subscribers, advertisers and other industry friends there, as he reports. "The weather was superb and everyone was in an equally sunny mood, despite attendance being down on last year by 4.9%, according to official figures. I hooked up with many industry friends - writers, publishers, managers, A&R folk and producers...

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