Aotearoa has made its mark on the BMI Awards this year with four of our top songwriters receiving a 2021 BMI Pop Award.
The annual BMI Pop Awards celebrates the incredible songwriters, music publishers and administrators behind the 50 most-performed songs of the past year. These songs received the most performances on terrestrial radio, satellite radio and digital streaming services.
First-time Pop Award winner, Jawsh 685, was celebrated for his breakthrough single ‘Savage Love’ by Jason Derulo which has already surpassed 1.1 billion streams. The young South Auckland producer was just 17 years old when the song started topping charts all over the world, making him the first Pacific Islander to top the UK Singles Chart.
BENEE and Josh Fountain also receive their first BMI Pop Award for alt-pop anthem ‘Supalonely’. The song was released during NZ’s first level-4 lockdown last year and unsurprisingly became one of the most popular songs on quarantine-favourite App, TikTok. Since its release, ‘Supalonely’ has eclipsed 400 million streams and continues as a crowd favourite both in New Zealand and worldwide.
Joel Little is no stranger to the BMI Pop Award, having received awards for ‘ME!’ by Taylor Swift and ‘Whatever It Takes’ by Imagine Dragons. This year he is honoured once again for his work with Taylor Swift for their track ‘The Man’ released as part of her seventh studio album Lover in 2019.
It’s a great pleasure seeing our unmatched songwriters making a mark on the worldwide market. APRA remains proud to represent such a diverse roster of creatives and we expect to see more international recognition for our artists!
Savage Love (Laxed - Siren Beat)
Jason Derulo & Jawsh 685
Irving Music
Jason Derulo Publishing
Sony/ATV Songs LLC
Supalonely
BENEE & Joshua Fountain
Sony/ATV Songs LLC
Universal-Songs of PolyGram
International, Inc.
The Man
Joel Little & Taylor Swift
EMI-Blackwood Music, Inc.
Sony/ATV Tree
Taylor Swift Music