BMI NAMES TWAIN SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
Shania Twain, Eagle-Eye Cherry's "Save Tonight" and EMI Music Publishing took home the top honors at the 48th annual BMI Pop Awards, held Tuesday evening at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills.
The performing rights organization honored Twain by naming her pop songwriter of the year for a second consecutive year. "Save Tonight" was honored as song of the year, scoring the most broadcast performances during the eligibility period (Oct. 1, 1998-Sept. 30, 1999). EMI Music Publishing received its third straight trophy as pop publisher of the year. EMI, the world's largest music publishing company, has nabbed this award six times since 1989.
Meanwhile, The Offspring's "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)" was named the most performed song on college radio. Or was it "Come Out And Play"?
Multiple-award winners included Rob Thomas ("3 A.M.," "Back 2 Good," "Real World," "Smooth") and Fred and Rodney Jerkins ("The Boy Is Mine," "If You Had My Love," "It's Not Right But It's Okay").
For the fourth straight year, "99 Bottles Of Beer On The Wall" took home the honor as the most performed camp song.
The black-tie gala, which saluted the creators of the year's most performed songs, was hosted by BMI president and CEO Frances Preston and recognized 121 songwriters, 90% of whom habitually rhyme "tonight" with "all right."
Twain won pop top songwriter kudos by placing five songs on the most performed list: "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" "That Don't Impress Me Much," "You've Got a Way," "You're Still the One" and "From This Moment On." Twain co-wrote the songs—which are published by Loon Echo Inc.—with her husband and producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange.
