Sony Music Publishing Named Pop Publisher of the Year at 2026 BMI Awards; Kendrick Lamar Wins Song of the Year

Sony Music Publishing wins Pop Publisher of the Year at 2026 BMI Awards… as Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Luther’ takes Song of the Year

May 13, 2026 By Rafaela Fornitani

Sony Music Publishing has been named the Pop Publisher of the Year at the 2026 BMI Pop Music Awards .

The Sony -owned publisher landed the title on the back of 24 BMI-honored pop songs by SMP-affiliated writers across the past awards year.

BMI’s ceremony was held on Tuesday ( May 12 ) in Los Angeles, California.

BMI’s Song of the Year honor went to  Luther ,  Kendrick Lamar  and  SZA ‘s  No. 1  collaboration, with recognized co-writers including  Matthew “MTech” Bernard ,  Atia “Ink” Boggs ,  Mark “Sounwave” Spears ,  Roselilah  ( BUMA ), and  Sam Dew .

The evening’s Songwriter Of The Year prize was shared by Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter.

> “Being named Pop Publisher of the Year is a proud moment for our entire team, and one that belongs to the songwriters at the heart of this award – this honor is yours.” Katie Welle, Sony Music Publishing

SMP-affiliated writers honored for other pop songs included Lady Gaga for Abracadabra , J. White Did It for 30 For 30 , Ed Sheeran for Azizam , Julian Bunetta and Mikky Ekko for Bad Dreams , Addison Rae for Diet Pepsi , Linus “Lotus IV” Wiklund and Noonie Bao for Apple , Mags Duval for Ordinary , and Gigi Perez for Sailor Song .

Other SMP honorees on the night included Ravyn Lenae , Sarah Aarons , Mike Dean , Sam de Jong , The Kid Laroi , Dylan Wiggins , Eddie Benjamin , Noah Ehler , Mike Hector , Brent Reynolds , John Ryan , Charlie Handsome , and Joe Reeves .

“Being named Pop Publisher of the Year is a proud moment for our entire team, and one that belongs to the songwriters at the heart of this award – this honor is yours,” said Katie Welle , Sony Music Publishing ‘s President, Head of A&R.

“Thank you to BMI , and to our amazing team for all that you do for SMP songwriters. Congratulations to all this year’s winners!”

The full list of all 2026 BMI Pop Awards winners, including writers from outside SMP ‘s roster, is published on the PRO’s website .

BMI ‘s annual Pop Awards recognize the writers and publishers behind the most-performed pop songs in the PRO’s repertoire across the year of eligibility.

BMI (aka Broadcast Music, Inc.) is one of the United States’ major performance rights organizations.

BMI was acquired by US private equity firm New Mountain Capital in early 2024, in a deal that converted what had historically been a not-for-profit organization into a for-profit company.

Sony Music Publishing  is led by Chairman and CEO  Jon Platt , who joined the company from  Warner Chappell Music  in 2019.

The BMI honor follows  SMP ‘s win at the  2026 ASCAP Pop Music Awards  on Thursday ( April 30 ) – its  10th Publisher of the Year win at the ASCAP ceremony. SMP took the ASCAP title for its contributions across  27  of the past year’s most-performed pop songs in the PRO’s repertoire.

On Monday ( May 11 ), SMP confirmed an agreement to acquire Blackstone ‘s Recognition Music Group catalog, encompassing over 45,000 songs.

The catalog includes Journey ‘s Don’t Stop Believin’ , Beyoncé ‘s Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) , and Mariah Carey ‘s All I Want For Christmas Is You . Music Business Worldwide

_Originally reported by [Music Business Worldwide](https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/sony-music-publishing-wins-pop-publisher-of-the-year-at-2026-bmi-awards-as-kendrick-lamars-luther-takes-song-of-the-year/)._