Sara Bareilles to Receive ASCAP Vanguard Award at 25th Annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - March 13, 2008) - The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) will honor Sara Bareilles at its 25th Annual Pop Music Awards on April 9th at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Bareilles will be presented with the ASCAP Vanguard Award, which is given in recognition of the impact of musical genres that help shape the future of American music. Bareilles will perform during the awards ceremony, which will also salute the songwriters and publishers of ASCAP's most performed pop songs of 2007.

The invitation-only event will also feature performances by ASCAP Golden Note Award honorees Steve Miller and Lionel Richie, as well as American Idol-turned-pop sensation Elliott Yamin, and Chris Tompkins and Josh Kear who co-wrote the hit song "Before He Cheats" for Carrie Underwood.

Previous ASCAP Vanguard Award honorees include The All-American Rejects, The Arcade Fire, Bat For Lashes, Beck, Modest Mouse, the Strokes, Built to Spill, the Mars Volta, Joseph Arthur and Jack Johnson, among others.

Sara Bareilles is a mesmerizing singer-songwriter who grew up performing in her native Humboldt County with no formal training in either voice or piano. Much of her adolescence was spent perched in front of a worn piano learning chords and scribbling simple melodies and lyrics. In 2003, Bareilles co-produced her first independent studio demo, "Careful Confessions," which earned her a loyal grassroots following through touring. Recognizing her insatiable thirst to challenge herself and find new ways to tap into her own creativity, ASCAP featured Bareilles at its popular ASCAP Presents... acoustic showcase at South By Southwest in March 2005. With word of mouth support and hypnotic live performances that leave fans hanging on her every word, Epic Records took notice and signed Bareilles to a record deal the following month. ASCAP spotlighted Bareilles again at the Sundance/ASCAP Music Café in January 2007. Her highly anticipated debut album "Little Voice" was released six months later (July 3, 2007) and skyrocketed to #1 on the iTunes album chart, and made an impressive debut on Billboard's Top 200 Album Chart at #45. Currently at #7, the album has been charting for 23 weeks and features the single, "Love Song," which after appearing in a Rhapsody commercial jumped from #73 to #16 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song is currently at #4 and has been charting for 19 weeks.

The 25th Annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards is part of ASCAP's "I Create Music Week" -- an entire week of events being held in Los Angeles to celebrate the voice of the music creator. Members of the press may apply for credentials at http://www.ascap.com/press/pressroom/popawards/.

About ASCAP

Established in 1914, ASCAP is the first and leading U.S. Performing Rights Organization representing the world's largest repertory totaling over 8.5 million copyrighted musical works of every style and genre from more than 315,000 songwriter, composer and music publisher members. ASCAP has representation arrangements with over 90 music rights organizations such that the ASCAP repertory is represented in nearly every country around the world. ASCAP protects the rights of its members and foreign affiliates by licensing the public performances of their copyrighted works and distributing royalties based upon surveyed performances. ASCAP is the only American Performing Rights Organization owned and governed by its writer and publisher members. www.ascap.com