Legendary veteran performer is recognized as one of the most streamed creators in SoundExchange history
WASHINGTON, D.C.— August 22, 2024 — SoundExchange, the premier music tech organization powering the future of music, announced today that Billy Joel has been honored with the SoundExchange Hall of Fame Award, recognizing his stature as one of the most streamed creators in the organization’s 20+ year history of administering digital performance royalties.
“Billy Joel is an American musical icon, a performer with an unrivaled catalog of hits and beloved deep cuts. He has not only maintained, but increased his popularity over time, winning new generations of fans with his indelible songs and performances,” said Michael Huppe, President and CEO of SoundExchange. “Billy has not only been a significant presence through nearly every major shift in physical musical formats, but he is also one of the digital era’s most streamed artists. We are thrilled and honored to present Billy Joel with the SoundExchange Hall of Fame Award.”
Joel has been a SoundExchange member since SoundExchange’s inception in 2003. In addition to his substantial United States streaming history, Joel is an international superstar and entrusts SoundExchange to collect his neighboring rights royalties worldwide through more than 65 agreements with counterpart organizations, covering 88% of the global neighboring rights market.
About Billy Joel
Billy Joel is one of the world’s most iconic musicians, having received The Kennedy Center Honors, one of the United States’ top cultural awards, in December 2013. He is also the recipient of six GRAMMY® Awards, including the prestigious Grammy Legend Award. Joel has been inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and has received numerous industry awards including a Tony Award for Movin’ Out, a Broadway musical based on Joel’s music. For his accomplishments as a musician and as a humanitarian, Joel was honored as the 2002 MusiCares Person of the Year by the MusiCares Foundation and the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences.
In November 2014, Billy Joel received both The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song which honors living musical artists’ lifetime achievement in promoting the genre of song as a vehicle of cultural understanding; entertaining and informing audiences; and inspiring new generations, and the once-in-a-century ASCAP Centennial Award, which is presented to American music icons in recognition of their incomparable accomplishments in their respective music genres and beyond. In 2016, the Library of Congress selected “Piano Man” for preservation in the National Recording Registry for its “cultural, historic, and artistic significance.”
About SoundExchange
SoundExchange is the premier music tech organization on a mission to power the future of music. It was independently formed in 2003 to build a fairer, simpler, and more efficient music industry through technology, data, and advocacy. The only organization designated by the U.S. government to administer the Section 114 sound recording license, SoundExchange collects and distributes digital performance royalties on behalf of 700,000 music creators and growing. Through proprietary music tech solutions that turn data into accurate revenue, SoundExchange has paid more than $11 billion in distributions to date. For more information, visit soundexchange.com.