BIG PROPS FOR THE BIG MAN

Warner/Chappell Prexy North America Big Jon Platt (seen here with biz legends Richard Gottehrer and Seymour Stein and Glassnote chief Daniel Glass) collected the Visionary Award at the SESAC Pop Awards in NYC on 5/4.

The festivities also marked the 20 years in the business for “The Pied Piper of Publishing,” and an array of luminaries turned up to sing his praises. These included Beyoncé, Pharrell, Usher, Jimmy Jam and Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins.

Chuck D presented Platt with the honor, which notes a career that has stretched from his DJ days in Colorado’s clubs—where he and Chuck first met, and the Public Enemy MC convinced him to get into the biz—to his foray into management, his storied tenure at EMI (where he inked Jay Z, Kanye West, Usher, Drake and TLC, among other huge acts) and finally his W/C perch, where he’s enticed Jay, Beyoncé, Aloe Blacc and the Roc Nation roster, among many others, and earned a fleet of Publisher of the Year honors.

"Since joining Warner/Chappell in 2012, Jon has signed incredible talent, fostered a superb team, and helped take Warner/Chappell to new heights of creative excellence,” wrote CEO Cameron Strang in an internal memo to his team. "Jon’s passion, dedication and integrity make him an inspiration to us all. With his typical generosity of spirit, Jon said in his speech last night, ‘I'm nothing without the songwriters...you are the true visionaries.’ … Please join me in congratulating Jon on this wonderful honor."

Big props to the big man.