It’s another season of celebration for the Swifties as their queen; Taylor Swift celebrates yet another win, adding another trophy to her collections, when she won the Songwriter of the Year award at the 2024 BMI Pop Awards on Monday. The 2024 BMI Pop Awards, which was held at Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, on June 4, 2024, was a big night of celebration and record-breaking achievements as various artists made sure to bag home some notable awards while Taylor Swift led them all being the star of the night. The event was co-hosted by BMI president and CEO Mike O’Neill and BMI vice president Barbara Cane. In addition to honoring individual artists and songwriters, the event is known to always emphasize the importance of collaboration and community within the music industry. The relationships between songwriters, producers, publishers, and performers are the backbone of the music world, and events like the BMI Pop Awards provide an opportunity to recognize and celebrate these connections.
Taylor Swift won the ‘Songwriter of the Year’ with her 10 songs that she co-wrote. These songs turned out to be BMI’s most-performed songs of 2023 including hits like “Anti-Hero,” “Bejeweled,” and “Cruel Summer.” The Grammy Awards winner’s influence on pop music is nothing short of exceptional, especially with her back-to-back wins. This award adds to her collection of awards, which includes a sum of 65 BMI Awards and the BMI President’s Award, which she received in 2009. Her acceptance speech was also well-written and humble. In her words, “I would love to tell you this is the best moment of my life,” but I feel this happy when I finish a song, or when I crack the code to a bridge that I love, or when I’m shortlisting a music video, or when I’m working with my dancers.” The evening became more exciting and emotional when Celine Dion made a surprise appearance to present Swift with her award. Celine, who has been battling health issues, received warm and welcoming applause from the audience. Her presence sure added more elegance to the event. The award winner who also knows just how to excite her fans, also used the occasion to announce a surprise new album, adding to the excitement of the evening.
Another significant part of the 2024 BMI Pop Awards was Sony Music Publishing’s win as Publisher of the Year for the seventh consecutive year. The company represented 34 of the previous year’s most performed songs, including hits like “Anti-Hero,” “Barbie World,” “Eyes Closed,” “Flowers,” “Trustfall,” and “Unholy.” Their achievement so far is evidence of Sony Music Publishing’s dominant presence in the music industry and of course their ever-significant role in shaping and developing pop music.
Miley Cyrus’s mega-hit “Flowers” earned her the BMI Pop Award for Song of the Year, which is also her first Grammy win for Best Pop Solo Performance and Record of the Year. Miley Cyrus also had a memorable night, taking home the Song of the Year award for her smash hit single “Flowers.” The song, which remained at number one on the charts for eight weeks, showcased Cyrus’s vocal prowess and songwriting skills. This accolade added to her growing list of achievements and highlighted her continued relevance in the music industry.
Popular producer and songwriter Benny Blanco was also honored with the BMI President’s Award. Blanco, who has earned 55 BMI Awards over the long years of his career, was once again recognized for his significant contributions to the music industry. He has been named Songwriter of the Year four times before and has also won Pop Song of the Year in 2013 for co-writing “Moves Like Jagger,” performed by Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera among others. Blanco’s win record includes Grammy nominations for Song of the Year for the Julia Michaels hit “Issues” and Justin Bieber’s world smash “Love Yourself.” In Blanco’s acceptance speech, he dedicated the award to music and its ability to make a difference in people’s lives. He his words he said: “We have the best job in the world, and we are so thankful and lucky to be in this room. We have the opportunity to make things better through music and help people. We’re giving the soundtrack to people’s lives.”
The award was presented by BMI president and CEO Mike O’Neill, who praised Blanco as an “unstoppable creative force who has shaped the sound of popular music.” Some of Blanco’s top collaborators expressed their excitement for his win through video messages, some of them include Lil Dicky, John Janick, Blake Slatkin, and Ed Sheeran, and there was also a live performance by Sia of Rihanna’s 2012 hit “Diamonds,” which was co-written by Blanco. The BMI Pop Awards also celebrated about 53 first-time Pop Award winners, including Sabrina Carpenter for “Nonsense,” Ice Spice for “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2,” Jelly Roll and Rob Ragosta for “Need a Favor,” Kamille for “I’m Good (Blue),” and Stephen Sanchez for “Until I Found You.” These new artists are said and believed to represent the next generation of talented songwriters and performers who are doing exceptionally well in the music industry.
The 2024 BMI Pop Awards night was indeed a night to remember, filled with unforgettable emotional moments, and well-deserved awards winners. The event celebrated the best of the best and the brightest in the music industry.