Frances W. Preston (27 August 1928 – 13 June 2012) was an American music executive. She was the

Chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Broadcast Music, Inc. Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) is a performance rights organization in the United States. It collects blanket license fees from businesses that use music, entitling those businesses to play or sync any songs from BMI's repertoire of over 22.4 milli ...

from 1986 to 2004. Preston was inducted into the

Country Music Hall of Fame The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the world's largest museums and research centers dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music. Chartered in 1964, the museum has amass ...

in 1992,

Gospel Music Hall of Fame The Gospel Music Hall of Fame, created in 1972 by the Gospel Music Association, is a hall of fame dedicated exclusively to recognizing meaningful contributions by individuals and groups in all forms of gospel music. Inductees This is an incompl ...

in 2004 and Music City Walk of Fame in 2007. Apart from her inductions, Preston received the Grammy Trustees Award in 1998.

Early life and education

On 27 August 1928, Preston was born as Frances Loree Williams in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. She completed a teacher's program at

Peabody College Vanderbilt Peabody College of Education and Human Development (also known as Vanderbilt Peabody College, Peabody College, or simply Peabody) is the education school of Vanderbilt University, a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee ...

Career

Preston started her career with

WSM (AM) WSM (650 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station, located in Nashville, Tennessee. It broadcasts a country music format (with classic country and Americana (music), Americana leanings, the latter of which is branded as "Route 650") and is known as ...

as a mail clerk and became a television host for WSM-TV. She then worked in event promotions for a precursor of the CMA Music Festival. Preston moved to

in 1958 and launched a

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

branch for the organization. She planned the creation of the BMI Country Awards and was promoted to vice president in 1964. She remained as vice president until she was named senior vice president of

performing rights Performing rights are the right to perform music in public. It is part of copyright law and demands payment to the music's composer/lyricist and publisher (with the royalties generally split 50/50 between the two). Performances are considered "pu ...

in 1985. From 1986 to 2004, Preston was the chief executive officer and president of BMI. During her time as president, Preston was a part of the Copyright Renewal Act of 1992 and

Copyright Term Extension Act The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act – also known as the Copyright Term Extension Act, Sonny Bono Act, or (derisively) the Mickey Mouse Protection Act – extended copyright terms in the United States in 1998. It is one of several ac ...

in 1998. She remained as CEO until August 2004 and was named

emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

for the rest of 2004. Outside of music, Preston served on committees for

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

and

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...

Awards and honors

In 1992, Preston was inducted into the

. Also that year, Preston received an honorary doctorate of music from

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

. Additional inductions include the

in 2004 and the Music City Walk of Fame in 2007. Outside of music halls, Preston was awarded the Grammy Trustees Award at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards and named to the

Broadcasting and Cable ''Broadcasting & Cable'' (''B&C'', or ''Broadcasting+Cable'') was a telecommunications industry monthly trade magazine and, later, news website published by Future US. Founded in 1931 as ''Broadcasting'', subsequent mergers, acquisitions and in ...

Hall of Fame in 1999.

Personal life

Preston was divorced and had three children.

Death

Preston died from

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...

on 13 June 2012 in Nashville.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Preston, Frances W. 1928 births 2012 deaths American music industry executives Country Music Hall of Fame inductees Grammy Award winners Broadcast Music, Inc.