{"id":752000,"date":"2026-08-28T01:36:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T01:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/752000\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T01:36:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T01:36:09","slug":"sony-music-publishing-wins-publisher-of-the-year-at-2026-bmi-rb-hip-hop-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/752000\/","title":{"rendered":"Sony Music Publishing wins Publisher of the Year at 2026 BMI R&B\/Hip-Hop Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sony Music Publishing<\/a> has been named Publisher of the Year at the 2026 BMI<\/a> R&B\/Hip-Hop Awards.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the second year running that SMP has taken the title.<\/p>\n

The Sony<\/a>-owned publisher landed the prize for representing 27 of the past awards year\u2019s most-performed R&B and hip-hop songs in BMI\u2018s repertoire, up from 23 at last year\u2019s ceremony<\/a>.<\/p>\n

BMI held the event on Wednesday (August 26) at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles, California.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a privilege to be recognized as Publisher of the Year for the second year in a row,\u201d said Ari Gelaw, Sony Music Publishing\u2019s SVP, Creative A&R. \u201cThis recognition belongs first and foremost to all SMP songwriter honorees and the incredible music they create.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir songs are why we do this, and we don\u2019t take that for granted for a second. Thank you to BMI for this honor, and to our team for their continued dedication and support.\u201d<\/p>\n

Songs behind the win included Timeless by The Weeknd and Playboi Carti, Like Him by Tyler, the Creator, Yukon by Justin Bieber, and 25, whose BMI-credited writers include Rod Wave and Tems.<\/p>\n

luther, the Kendrick Lamar and SZA collaboration, took R&B\/Hip-Hop Song of the Year, with BMI-credited co-writers including SMP\u2019s Mark \u201cSounwave\u201d Spears, Matthew \u201cMTech\u201d Bernard, Atia \u201cINK\u201d Boggs, and Sam Dew.<\/p>\n

Roselilah (BUMA), Lamar, and SZA were also recognized as writers on the track.<\/p>\n

Lamar was named BMI R&B\/Hip-Hop Songwriter of the Year, having co-written six of the year\u2019s most-performed songs.<\/p>\n

The other five were 30 For 30, hey now, peekaboo, squabble up, and tv off.<\/p>\n

BMI said luther placed at No. 2 on Billboard<\/a>\u2018s 2025 Year End Hot 100 Songs chart, and spent 23 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot R&B\/Hip-Hop Songs chart.<\/p>\n

According to the PRO, that surpassed a previous record of 22 weeks set by Lamar\u2018s own Not Like Us.<\/p>\n

O Lil Angel was named R&B\/Hip-Hop Producer of the Year, with BMI citing his work with Drake and PARTYNEXTDOOR on Spider-Man Superman and Somebody Loves Me.<\/p>\n

Jahaan Sweet, who is signed to SMP, was among BMI\u2019s Top Producers, alongside Dernst \u201cD\u2019Mile\u201d Emile II and FNZ\u2018s Michael \u201cFinatik\u201d Mul\u00e9 and Isaac \u201cZac\u201d De Boni.<\/p>\n

Nas received the BMI Icon Award, presented by Babyface.<\/p>\n

\u201cStaring at records on wax I saw the three letters, BMI. No matter the legends I was listening to, I saw BMI,\u201d said Nas. \u201cNever in a million years did I think I would be partners with BMI.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just shows you that the things you dream about could really happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNas didn\u2019t just raise the bar, he reset it,\u201d said Mike Steinberg, BMI\u2019s EVP and Chief Revenue & Creative Officer.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor what hip-hop could be. For what songwriting could accomplish. For how deeply an artist could observe, think and write.\u201d<\/p>\n

BMI also used the ceremony to remember Tay Keith, the producer and songwriter who died on June 18 at the age of 29.<\/p>\n

The PRO described him as \u201ca friend, a mentor and a brother to so many in the room,\u201d and his family came onstage to accept his 2025 BMI R&B\/Hip-Hop Songwriter of the Year award.<\/p>\n

Sony Music Publishing said its other 2026 honorees included Rod Wave, Tems, Eelmatic, Seyi Sodimu, Kasey Rashel, J. White Did It, Bandplay, BigXthaPlug, Ben Johnson, Julian Bunetta, Giveon, Lucas Scharff, Paco, Kenneth Burrell, Tavaras Jordan, MacFly, Real Boston Richey, Ella Mai, Koshy, Carl Thompson, Faith Evans, Coupe, Tye Beats, Lorenzo Gaines, Jay Hawkins, Josh Thompson, Moneybagg Yo, and Charlie Handsome.<\/p>\n

In May, the company was named Pop Publisher of the Year at the 2026 BMI Pop Music Awards<\/a>, where luther also took Song of the Year.<\/p>\n

It then won Publisher of the Year at the 2026 ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards<\/a> on June 25.<\/p>\n

Sony Music Publishing is led by Chairman and CEO Jon Platt<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The main winners at the 2026 BMI R&B\/Hip-Hop Awards were as follows:<\/p>\n

BMI Icon Award: NasSongwriter of the Year: Kendrick LamarSong of the Year: luther \u2013 Matthew \u201cMTech\u201d Bernard, Atia \u201cINK\u201d Boggs, Sam Dew, Kendrick Lamar, Roselilah (BUMA), Mark \u201cSounwave\u201d Spears, SZAProducer of the Year: O Lil AngelTop Producers: Isaac \u201cZac\u201d De Boni, Dernst \u201cD\u2019Mile\u201d Emile II, Michael \u201cFinatik\u201d Mul\u00e9, Jahaan SweetPublisher of the Year: Sony Music PublishingBMI Foundation Babyface Award: Rijah Banerjee<\/p>\n

The full roster of BMI\u2019s 35 most-performed R&B\/Hip-Hop songs and their writers and publishers, including 63 first-time award winners, is published on the PRO\u2019s website<\/a>.Music Business Worldwide<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sony Music Publishing has been named Publisher of the Year at the 2026 BMI R&B\/Hip-Hop Awards. It\u2019s the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":752001,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[96,128,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-752000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=752000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/752001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=752000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=752000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=752000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}