Gustavo Santaolalla fused his deep knowledge of Latin music with the traditions of animated film for his score to The Book of Life. In ASCAP President Paul Williams, Santaolalla found a sympathetic collaborator on two beautiful, original songs. We spoke with these master musical craftsmen about bringing The Book of Life to life.

It's one of our favorite stories to tell: the promising talent who breaks through, crosses over and gets the attention that he or she deserves. Here are 10 ASCAP songwriters and composers who broke through big ways in 2014, and are poised for even bigger things in the future.

On albums such as The Mysterious Production of Eggs, Armchair Apocrypha, Noble Beast and Break It Yourself/Hands of Glory, Bird’s hypnotic songs merge provocative lyrics with elements of classical, bluegrass, Celtic and folk music.

Tori Tullier has been named the recipient of The ASCAP Foundation Sammy Cahn Award, which commemorates the life and career of the lyricist behind the classic songs “High Hopes,” “Call Me Irresponsible,” “My Kind of Town” and more.

ASCAP proudly sponsors Culture Collide, a unique celebration of creative curiosity that stretches across LA’s renowned and intimate venues from 10/16 to 10/18. Don't miss the Thursday night ASCAP showcase, featuring five of our favorite acts from around the world: MØ, De Lux, Taymir, Nervous Nellie and Holychild.

Neil Gaffney has been appointed Senior Vice President, International Affairs, it was announced by ASCAP CEO John LoFrumento. Gaffney brings to ASCAP a deep understanding of the complex issues in global music rights licensing, digital rights management, tracking and revenue building.

ASCAP member Natalie Merchant was recently honored with the Keeper of the Catskills Award for her environmental stewardship and anti-fracking advocacy. Read about her history with the anti-fracking movement, and connect with organizations working to support sustainable growth and protect our natural resources.

ASCAP hosted its 34th awards presentation in London, honoring those songwriter, composers and publisher members of PRS for Music whose repertory is licensed by ASCAP and was among its most performed works in the US during 2013.

The Women Behind the Music series is designed to encourage and recognize women in the music community, honoring not only singers and songwriters but also female executives in all facets of the business including managers, attorneys, label executives and music publishers.

ASCAP will host its annual showcase at CMJ Music Marathon in New York on Wednesday, October 22nd. Designed to give bands a platform to perform for fans and the music biz, this year's CMJ showcase features on-the-verge acts Aurora, Ballet School, Hoodlem, Line & Circle, Little Daylight and Mosco Rosco.

Grammy-winner Lee Ann Womack returns to the serious country ​music​ that defined her with a poignant new album, which presents 13 unique songs written by some of America’s most progressive songwriter-artists. The​ Way I'm Livin' is Womack's first​ new​ ​release ​in ​nearly ​seven years​;​ click through to preview it now.

The winners of the 46th annual ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/ Virgil Thomson Awards for outstanding print, broadcast and new media coverage of music have been announced. The winners will be honored at a ceremony on November 12th in NYC.

Eighteen top songwriters and producers convened at a medieval castle for the 4th annual ASCAP songwriters retreat in France. The retreat was designed to produce hits and get cuts in a variety of genres. Brett James and Chris DeStefano were knighted for the success of their #1 country single "Somethin' Bad," written at the 2012 retreat.

ASCAP, BMI and SOCAN have expanded our MusicMark collaboration, designed to simplify the music registration process and create an authoritative picture of the music the three companies represent. Publishers who currently register music through Electronic Batch Registration can e-mail musicmark@musicmark.com to get started.

So you've written a brilliant score, and hired musicians to record it. If you want to make the most of the recording session, preparation is critical. Find out how to save time and money from Tina Guo, a seasoned session cellist and erhuist with credits ranging from CSI:NY to Inception, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 to Family Guy.

ASCAP's Rhythm & Soul team hosted its 3rd Annual Atlanta Legends Dinner at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel on September 25th in honor of music mogul, Antonio LA Reid. The annual ceremony was created to pay homage to those who have brought great honor to the city of Atlanta through their achievements in music.