John Lennon was one of the most successful songwriters of the 20th century, penning classic songs like "Imagine," "In My Life," "All You Need Is Love" and more. BMI is one of the leading performing rights organizations. The BMI Foundation offers John Lennon Scholarships to college-going songwriters ages 15 to 24. Lennon's wife and sometime collaborator Yoko Ono helped establish the scholarship with the BMI Foundation in 1997. The BMI Foundation has awarded more than $250,000 to songwriters across a variety of genres since the scholarship's inception.
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller are one of the most successful songwriting duos of all time, responsible for countless hit songs, including "Hound Dog," "Stand By Me" and "On Broadway." This songwriting team helped set up this songwriting scholarship, which awards young songwriters, to celebrate its 40th anniversary of collaboration. The ASCAP Foundation, run by performing rights organization ASCAP, awards two Leiber and Stoller Music Scholarships per year
The Songwriters Hall of Fame was established in 1969 to celebrate the works of the world's most beloved songwriters, honoring songwriters as diverse as David Bowie, Francis Scott Key and Little Richard. The organization offers the Abe Olman Scholarship for Excellence in Songwriting to five young lyricists and composers per year who have participated in songwriting programs through organizations like ASCAP and BMI. Abe Olman was a major music publishing figure and helped found the Songwriters Hall of Fame. The organization has awarded more than $100,000 in the award's 20 year lifetime.