David F. Bills, Richard A. Garza, and Samantha Cox Elected as Officers of BMI Foundation, Inc.
David F. Bills, Samantha Cox, and Richard A. Garza have been elected as Officers of the BMI Foundation, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to encouraging the creation, performance and study of music. Formed by BMI employees in 1985, the organization sponsors a variety of programs designed to support music education, encourage talented young musicians in all genres of music, and to promote music in communities all across America.
David F. Bills, recently elected Vice President of the BMI Foundation, Inc. is the Executive Director of Online Communications & Marketing at BMI and oversees BMI’s award-winning internet presence at the intersection of business, design, marketing and web development. Prior to joining BMI in 2000, Bills graduated Magna Cum Laude from Syracuse University and from Columbia University’s Business School Executive Leadership Program. He is currently an invited expert with the W3C HTML Working Group, a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences and serves on the Songwriters Hall of Fame Communications Committee. Creator of several innovative online community projects, Bills and his innovative works have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Apple.com, Newsweek and USA Today. In 2005, he authored “Make Your Playlist Smart” in the iPod/iTunes Tips & Tricks book published by O’Reilly Press. Prior to BMI, Bills consulted for a variety of companies and industries, including Apple Inc., Computer Sciences Corporation, NBC, Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories and Zeneca Pharmaceuticals.
Newly appointed Vice President, Richard A. Garza is currently the Executive Director of Legal and Business Affairs, Performing Rights at BMI. Licensed to practice law in New York and New Jersey, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Texas A&M University and a Juris Doctorate from Seton Hall University School of Law. Garza is a member of the Copyright Society of the USA; the Planning Committee of the New York Chapter of the Copyright Society; the Entertainment and Sports Section & Corporate Counsel Section of the New York State Bar Association; the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS); the Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; the Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP); and also volunteers to assist Practicing Attorneys for Law Students Program, Inc.
Samantha Cox has been elected as Secretary of the BMI Foundation, Inc. Along with her new position as Secretary, and as Director of the John Lennon Scholarship for the Foundation, Cox is the Assistant VP of Writer/Publisher Relations at BMI and is responsible for scouting and signing new songwriters and publishers, and maintaining relationships with existing BMI affiliates in the New York City metropolitan area. She also coordinates various songwriter nights, showcases and seminars. Over the last 15 years in the Writer/Publisher Relations department, Cox has worked with such artists as Ke$ha, Lady Gaga, 3 Doors Down, Shinedown, My Chemical Romance, Howie Day, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Flyleaf, and many others. She joined BMI as an intern in 1996 and was quickly hired by the Performing Rights department where she was Senior Researcher until her promotion in 1999 to Associate Director, Writer/Publisher Relations. She was promoted to Director in 2002, to Senior Director in 2004 and Executive Director in 2010. Her varied experience in the music industry includes public relations at radio station KUTZ in Austin, promotions at PolyGram Records, and owner of her own promotions company. Cox attended Southwest Texas State University at San Marcos where she studied advertising and business.
The BMI Foundation, Inc. is supported by tax-deductible donations from songwriters, composers and publishers, BMI employees and members of the public with a special interest in music.