Lionel Richie, Steve Miller, Sara Bareilles, Timbaland, Fergie, Akon, Gwen Stefani and Justin Timberlake Among Honorees at 25th Annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards

LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwire - April 10, 2008) - Over 1,800 songwriters, recording artists, industry leaders and members of the music community gathered at the 25th Annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards on Wednesday, April 9th at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California to salute the songwriters behind some of today's most popular music. Attendees at this year's invitation-only event included students from GRAMMY U, University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music and the Hollywood Media Arts program. Additionally, participants in the ASCAP "I Create Music" EXPO, a three-day conference dedicated to songwriting and composing, were invited to experience this star-studded evening.

Top awards were given to:

--  Songwriter of the Year: Timbaland
--  Song of the Year (tie): "Big Girls Don't Cry" and "The Sweet Escape"
--  Publisher of the Year: EMI Music Publishing
    

Special awards were presented to Steve Miller and Lionel Richie who were honored with the ASCAP Golden Note Award, as well as newcomer Sara Bareilles who received ASCAP's Vanguard Award. Awards were also presented to the songwriters and publishers of ASCAP's most performed pop songs of 2007.

Songwriter/producer Timbaland earned the coveted Songwriter of the Year title for his contributions to nine award-winning songs, including "Give It To Me," "Ice Box," "Make Me Better," "My Love," "Say It Right," "Summer Love/Set The Mood," "The Way I Are," "Until The End Of Time," and "What Goes Around...Comes Around." Prior to taking home tonight's ASCAP Pop Songwriter of the Year prize, Timbaland was twice recognized by ASCAP as Rhythm and Soul Songwriter of the Year.

The sought-after Song of the Year award was a tie between "Big Girls Don't Cry," written by Stacy "Fergie" Ferguson and Toby Gad, and "The Sweet Escape," written by Gwen Stefani, Akon and Giorgio Tuinfort. Fergie and Gad were on hand to accept their awards, and Fergie also collected Pop Awards for "Glamorous" and "Fergalicious." Rounding out the Top 5 most performed songs were "Irreplaceable," written by Beyoncé, Mikkel Eriksen and Tor Hermansen; "It's Not Over," written by Gregg Wattenberg; and "Say It Right," written by Nelly Furtado (SOCAN) and Timbaland.

EMI Music Publishing was named Publisher of the Year for their 21 award-winning songs. This is the sixth consecutive win for EMI and the fourteenth time in the 25-year history of the awards show that they have received this honor.

The evening was highlighted with special tributes to Lionel Richie and Steve Miller who were presented with ASCAP's Golden Note Award, honoring songwriters, composers, and artists who have achieved extraordinary career milestones. Previous ASCAP Golden Note Award honorees include Tom Petty, Stevie Wonder, Jermaine Dupri, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Jay-Z, Quincy Jones, LL Cool J and George Michael, among others.

Legendary songwriter/producer Quincy Jones joined ASCAP President and Chairman Marilyn Bergman to present the award to Richie. Commenting on the award to his good friend, Quincy remarked, "Lionel is a fantastic singer and a tremendous live entertainer but I believe, as ASCAP does, that it is for his songwriting that he will long be remembered. Over the years, Lionel Richie has strung together many, many golden and platinum notes. He is most deserving of the ASCAP Golden Note Award." Richie is a three-time ASCAP Pop Songwriter of the Year honoree, having earned this prize at the inaugural Pop Music Awards in 1984, and again in 1985 and 1986.

As part of the tribute to Steve Miller, an American master of Rock, Blues and Pop who has been making his musical mark for four decades, Ms. Bergman introduced a special video message from guitar great Les Paul, who had given Miller childhood music lessons and mentored him throughout his career. This was followed by a rousing performance by the Steve Miller Band.

Singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles was honored with ASCAP's Vanguard Award in recognition of the impact of musical genres that help shape the future of American music. Past ASCAP Vanguard honorees include: The All-American Rejects, The Arcade Fire, Beck, Modest Mouse, the Strokes, Built to Spill, the Mars Volta, Joseph Arthur and Jack Johnson. Bareilles performed two songs during the ceremony, including her smash hit single "Love Song."

In addition to Steve Miller and Sara Bareilles, the evening also featured performances by "American Idol"-turned-pop sensation Elliott Yamin who sang "Wait For You," which earned writers Mikkel Eriksen, Tor Hermansen and Phillip "Taj" Jackson Pop Awards, and songwriters Chris Tompkins and Josh Kear who performed their Pop Award-winning song, "Before He Cheats," which they co-wrote for Carrie Underwood.

Multiple Pop Award-winning songwriters included Timbaland with nine awards; Akon, Justin Timberlake and Stargate's Mikkel Eriksen & Tor Hermansen with five awards; Fergie, Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald, Keri Hilson and Ludacris with three awards; and Keyshia Cole, Nelly Furtado (SOCAN), Max Martin (STIM) and Terius "The Dream" Nash with two awards.

Honorees, performers and notables in attendance were: Lionel Richie, Steve Miller, Quincy Jones, Sara Bareilles, Fergie, Justin Timberlake, Desmond Child, Linda Perry, Mel B, Jesse McCartney, Ne-Yo, Natasha Bedingfield, "American Idol's" Elliott Yamin, Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller, The All-American Rejects, MC5's Wayne Kramer, No Doubt's Tony Kanal, OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder, Stargate's Mikkel Eriksen & Tor Hermansen, Keyshia Cole, Keri Hilson, Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald, Toby Gad, Josh Kear, Chris Tompkins, Johntá Austin, Kerry "Krucial" Brothers, Arabian Prince, Dania "Baby D" Birks, Juana Burns-Sperling, Don Cannon, Timothy "Attitude" Clayton, Antonio Dixon, DJ Dirty Harry, D.O.E., Lawrence "Huey" Franks, Christopher "Drumma Boy" Gholson, Shop Boyz's Demetrius "Meanie" Hardin, Rasheed "Sheed" Hightower & Richard "Fat" Stephens, Thaddis "Kuk" Harrell, Shawntae "Da Brat" Harris, Billy Hume, Phillip "Taj" Jackson, LaMarquis Jefferson, Cri$tyle "The Ink" Johnson, Sly "Pyper" Jordan, Cainon "Lamb" Lamb, Juanita A. Lee, Ryon Lovett, Candice Nelson, Rick Nowels, Martin Page, Alex Patsavas, Polow Da Don, Wayne Rodrigues, Danny Styles Schofield, Fatimah Shaheed, Richard "K-RAB" Sims, Jr., Maurice "Big Reese" Sinclair, D'Andre "Po Po" Smith, C. "Tricky" Stewart, Winston "Blackout" Thomas, Brian "Bingo" Ward, Gregg Wattenberg, Verdine White and Charles "Keak Da Sneak" Williams, among others.

The complete list of winners is available at www.ascap.com.

MEDIA, PLEASE NOTE: High-resolution photos of the 2008 ASCAP Pop Music Awards will be available for downloading from ASCAP's Press Room http://www.ascap.com/press/pressroom/popawards/.

The 25th Annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards is part of an entire week of events planned by ASCAP to celebrate the voice of the music creator. Los Angeles City Council has issued a proclamation to declare the week of April 6 - 12, 2008 as "ASCAP I Create Music Week" in Los Angeles, California.

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