EMI, HALL & OATES, POLOW DA DON, HINDER DOMINATE BMI POP AWARDS

Otherwise, EMI-Blackwood Music Publishing, BMI Icons Daryl Hall and John Oates, songwriter/producer Polow Da Don and Hinder's "Lips of an Angel" were the big winners at last night's 56th Annual Pop Awards at the Beverly Wilshire in L.A.

EMI Music Publishing was named Pop Publisher of the Year, with 14 award songs and the highest percentage of copyright ownership in the Top 50, including Hinder's Song of the Year, "Lips of an Angel," which generated the most airplay of any tune on BMI's most-performed pop song list during the award period. It also won “Internet Song of the Year” as the most performed song on the web during the award period. The song was written by the band and fellow EMI writer and producer Brian Howes. It was also covered by country star Jack Ingram.

The pubbery also boasts the current #1 album in the country in Death Cab for Cutie and #4 Duffy. Among their hit songwriters are Panic at the Disco, Rihanna, Amy Winehouse, Static Major and Jim Jonsin. They have also been named BMI Urban Publisher of the Year, ASCAP Pop Publisher of the Year, and Music Week Publisher of the Year in the U.K.

EMI Music Publishing Chairman/CEO Roger Faxon was predictably pleased with the results: “To be honest, I wouldn’t swap any of our A&R guys around the world for any other team anywhere in records or publishing. We’re fortunate enough to work alongside the writers that everybody is talking about, and they’re producing songs that everybody wants to listen to and perform. With what we’ve got coming up, I think that’s going to be the case for a long time to come. But who's the dolt that sat Trakin at my table?”

Polow Da Don took his first BMI Songwriter of the Year for penning four songs among the year’s top 50: the Pussycat Dolls’ “Buttons,” featuring Snoop Dogg; Fergie’s “London Bridge” and “Glamorous,” featuring Ludacris; and “Runaway Love,” recorded by Ludacris and featuring Mary J. Blige. Fergie giving "Polow!" a shout-out in "London Bridge" made him a household name, and now he's BMI's top dog.

Daryl and John performed a three-song acoustic set with their band, including "Maneater," "Out of Touch" and "She's Gone," after receiving their Icon awards. That was following versions of "Everytime You Go Away" by Lifehouse's Jason Wade and Jude Cole; Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stumpf doing "Rich Girl" and Babyface knocking out an acoustic version of "Sara Smile."

Hall and Oates now join previous BMI Icons such as the Bee Gees, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Paul Simon, James Brown, Brian Wilson, Isaac Hayes, Dolly Parton and Carlos Santana.