Tom Petty, fun. and Other Top Names in Music Honored at 31st Annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards

LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwired - Apr 23, 2014) -  The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) hosted its 31st annual Pop Music Awards tonight at the Loews Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles, CA. The star-studded event, which was attended by hundreds of songwriters, recording artists and music industry leaders, paid special tribute to rock legend Tom Petty and Grammy-winning band fun., and honored the songwriters and publishers of the most performed ASCAP songs on the 2013 pop charts.

Top awards were presented to:

• Songwriter of the Year: Max Martin
• Song of the Year: "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke with T.I. & Pharrell, written by Clifford 'T.I.' Harris, Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams
• Publishers of the Year: Sony/ATV Tunes LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
• Independent Publisher of the Year: Prescription Songs LLC

Legendary rock star Tom Petty was honored with the ASCAP Founders Award, which is the most prestigious honor that ASCAP gives to songwriters who have made pioneering contributions to music by inspiring and influencing their fellow music creators. Each recipient is a musical innovator who possesses a unique style of creative genius that will enrich generations to come. Past recipients include Ashford & Simpson, Burt Bacharach & Hal David, Alan & Marilyn Bergman, Jackson Browne, Elvis Costello, Billy Joel, Annie Lennox, Sir Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, Smokey Robinson, Carly Simon, Patti Smith, Steely Dan, Rod Stewart, James Taylor, Steven Tyler & Joe Perry (Aerosmith), Tom Waits, Ann & Nancy Wilson (Heart), Stevie Wonder and Neil Young.

Grammy-winning band fun. was honored with the ASCAP Vanguard Award. The ASCAP Vanguard Award recognizes the impact of musical genres that help shape the future of American music. Past ASCAP Vanguard Award honorees include The All-American Rejects, Arcade Fire, Band of Horses, Beastie Boys, Beck, Björk, Diplo, Jack Johnson, The Killers, Modest Mouse and The Strokes.

Max Martin was named the ASCAP Pop Music Songwriter of the Year for the fourth consecutive year and seventh time in his career -- more than anyone else in Pop Awards history. Martin penned an impressive seven of the most performed songs of 2013, including "Daylight" and "One More Night" by Maroon 5, "Roar" and "Wide Awake" by Katy Perry and "I Knew You Were Trouble" and "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" by Taylor Swift. The Swedish songwriter-producer also earned the coveted prize in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2011, 2012 and 2013 for writing a string of hits, including "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)" by The Backstreet Boys, "Baby One More Time" by Britney Spears, "That's The Way It Is" by Celine Dion, "DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love" by Usher with Pitbull, "Blow" by Ke$ha and "Part of Me" by Katy Perry.

Robin Thicke accepted the ASCAP Pop Song of the Year award for "Blurred Lines" via pre-taped video message. The lead single from Thicke's latest album of the same name, which features T.I. and Pharrell, topped the Billboard Hot 100 for twelve consecutive weeks, becoming the longest-running #1 single of 2013 and of the 2010s decade. It sold over 5 million copies in just 22 weeks in the US, and 6 million in 29 weeks, faster than any other song in digital history. Internationally, the single was the best-selling digital single of 2013 and is currently the third best-selling digital single of all time. As of March 2014, the song became one of the best-selling singles of all time, with sales of 14.8 million.

ASCAP Publisher of the Year honors went to both Sony/ATV Tunes LLC and Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., which were honored for an astounding 18 award-winning songs each. ASCAP CEO John LoFrumento presented the award to Sony/ATV CEO Martin Bandier and the Sony/ATV creative team, as well as Warner/Chappell President Jon Platt, CEO Cameron Strang and the Warner/Chappell creative team. The award for Independent Publisher of the Year went to Prescription Songs LLC. ASCAP EVP of Membership John Titta and VP of Pop/Rock Membership Marc Emert-Hutner presented the award to Dr. Luke and the rest of the Prescription Songs team.

The evening featured performances by singer-songwriter Greg Holden, who opened the show with "Home," the hit song he wrote for Phillip Phillips; Mary Lambert, who performed "She Keeps Me Warm," based on the Grammy-nominated song "Same Love" that she co-wrote with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis; Aloe Blacc and Michael Einziger (of Incubus), who performed the song they co-wrote for Avicii "Wake Me Up"; and Lucinda Williams, who gave a special tribute performance in honor of Founders Award recipient Tom Petty. The event was attended by some of the top names in the music and entertainment industry, including Cary Brothers, Dr. Luke, James Fauntleroy, Flo Rida, fun., Siedah Garrett, Matthew Koma, Savan Kotecha, Greg Kurstin, Max Martin, Miguel, Rick Nowels, Tom Petty, Lindy Robbins, Noah "40" Shebib, Stargate, Timbaland, Henry "Cirkut" Walter and Zedd, among many others.

The 31st annual Pop Music Awards falls on the eve of the 9th annual ASCAP "I Create Music" EXPO, a three-day conference dedicated to songwriting and composing. This year's EXPO features Keynote Sessions with Dr. Luke, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and Gustavo Santaolalla in conversation with Paul Williams; Master Sessions with Jermaine Dupri, John Powell, Amy Grant, Mike WiLL Made It, John Beasley, Bear McCreary and Morten Lauridsen; plus numerous performances, panels, workshops, one-on-one sessions, song critiquing, networking events, product displays, state-of-the-art technology demonstrations and more. The EXPO takes place April 24th-26th at the Loews Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles, CA. For more details, please visit www.ascap.com/expo.

A complete list of winners is available at www.ascap.com/popawards.

About ASCAP
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is a professional membership organization of songwriters, composers and music publishers of every kind of music. ASCAP's mission is to license and promote the music of its members and foreign affiliates, obtain fair compensation for the public performance of their works and to distribute the royalties that it collects based upon those performances. ASCAP members write the world's best-loved music and ASCAP has pioneered the efficient licensing of that music to hundreds of thousands of enterprises who use it to add value to their business -- from bars, restaurants and retail, to radio, TV and cable, to Internet, mobile services and more. The ASCAP license offers an efficient solution for businesses to legally perform ASCAP music while respecting the right of songwriters and composers to be paid fairly. With 500,000 members representing more than 9 million copyrighted works, ASCAP is the worldwide leader in performance royalties, service and advocacy for songwriters and composers, and the only American performing rights organization (PRO) owned and governed by its writer and publisher members. www.ascap.com