music. more than ever
TRANSCRIPT
A S C A P M E M B E R A C H I E V E M E N T S I N 2 0 2 0
MUSIC.MORE THAN EVER.
ASCAP MUSICWAS A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS IN 2020.
In a year marked by division, uncertainty and isolation, the
global ASCAP family lifted our spirits and kept us connected
when we couldn’t be with each other in person.
ASCAP members met this challenging year head on. They
wrote extraordinary music that spoke to the difficult times we
live in. They inspired change and reflection, and united fans
from disparate backgrounds. They broke records and barriers.
Here’s a look back at some of ASCAP members’ remarkable
achievements from 2020 – just a few of the countless
reasons we had to be proud of the 800,000 songwriters,
composers and publishers we represent.
TOPBRASS
When global pop star Dua Lipa released her highly-anticipated sophomore album Future Nostalgia on March 27 of 2020, the world was in the process of plunging into the new reality of COVID-19. Pre-lockdown, the London native had already locked in GRAMMYs, Brit Awards, the ASCAP Vanguard Award and an ocean of critical praise. But Future Nostalgia rocketed her into the stratosphere, by giving the world exactly what we needed in 2020. The album struck a chord with millions of housebound fans looking to dance their anxieties away from the safety of their homes – especially the infectious disco hit “Don’t Start Now,” her highest-charting song in the US so far. And despite the cancellation of a massive tour, Dua even managed to bring a live experience to her fans through her four-night livestream Studio 2054, a stunning tribute to New York’s iconic club Studio 54 featuring superstar guests including Bad Bunny, Elton John, FKA Twigs, J Balvin and Kylie Minogue. To close out the year, Dua picked up a massive six GRAMMY nominations.
TOP BRASS ASCAP STARS HONORED WITH MAJOR AWARDS AND GRANTS
ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS OLD DOMINION
Group of the YearSong of the Year – “One Man Band” (w/ Josh Osborne) DAN + SHAY
Duo of the Year CAYLEE HAMMACK
Fooled Around and Fell in Love HILLARY LINDSEY
Songwriter of the Year TENILLE TOWNES
New Female Artist of the Year
AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS DAN + SHAY & JUSTIN BIEBER
Collaboration of the Year – “10,000 Hours”Favorite Song, Country – “10,000 Hours”Favorite Duo or Group, Country (Dan + Shay)Favorite Male Artist, Pop/Rock (Justin Bieber) THE WEEKND (SOCAN)
Favorite Male Artist, Soul/R&BFavorite Album, Soul/R&B – After HoursFavorite Song, Soul/R&B – “Heartless” BAD BUNNY
Favorite Male Artist, LatinFavorite Album, Latin – YHLQMDLG BTS
Favorite Duo or Group, Pop/RockFavorite Social Artist
BECKY G
Favorite Female Artist, Latin CARDI B
Favorite Song, Rap/Hip-Hop – “WAP” DUA LIPA
Favorite Song, Pop/Rock – “Don’t Start Now”
ANNIE AWARDS DAN LEVY (SACEM)
Outstanding Achievement for Music in an Animated Feature – I Lost My Body
APRA MUSIC AWARDS Highlights... TONES AND I (APRA)
Song of the Year – “Dance Monkey”Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year KIAN (APRA) – “Waiting”Most Performed Australian Work (co-writer: Jerome Farah)Most Performed Alternative Work (co-writer: Jerome Farah) HILLTOP HOODS (APRA)
Songwriter of the YearMost Performed Urban Work – “Leave Me Lonely” (co-writers: Barry Francis, Matthew Lambert, Leigh Ryan & Daniel Smith – all APRA) GREG KURSTIN & SIA (APRA)
Most Performed Australian Work Overseas – “Cheap Thrills”
BET AWARDS BEYONCÉ, BLUE IVY & WIZKID
BET Her Award – “Brown Skin Girl” DABABY
Best Male Hip-Hop Artist MIGOS
Best Group
BRIT AWARDS LEWIS CAPALDI (PRS)
Best New ArtistSong of the Year – “Someone You Loved” DAVE (PRS)
Album of the Year – Psychodrama BILLIE EILISH
International Female Solo Artist MABEL (PRS)
Best Female Solo Artist STORMZY (PRS)
Best Male Solo Artist
COUNTRY MUSIC ASSOCIATION AWARDS DAN + SHAY
Vocal Duo of the Year GREG KURSTIN
Single of the Year - “The Bones” OLD DOMINION
Vocal Group of the Year CARLY PEARCE
Musical Event of the Year - “I Hope You’re Happy Now” CHARLEY PRIDE
Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award JIMMY ROBBINS
Song of the Year - “The Bones”
DORIS DUKE ARTIST AWARDANDREW CYRILLE ...for his prowess at reshaping jazz’s rhythmic syntax while engaging with its lineage DAYTIME EMMYSJASON ALEXANDER
Outstanding Original Song – “The Bad Guys?” from Brainwashed by Toons
PAUL ANTONELLI, KEN CORDAY & D. BRENT NELSON
Outstanding Music Direction & Composition for a Drama Series – Days of Our Lives
GLENN SLATER
Outstanding Original Song in a Children’s, Young Adult or Animated Program – “Waiting in the Wings” from Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure
PRIMETIME EMMYS TRENT REZNOR
Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series, Movie or Special – Watchmen
AMY SHERMAN-PALLADINO & DANIEL PALLADINO
Outstanding Music Supervision – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel GAME AUDIO NETWORK GUILD AWARDS Highlights... GORDY HAAB
Music of the Year – Star Wars Jedi: Fallen OrderBest Original Choral Composition – “Cordova’s Theme” from Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order AUSTIN WINTORY
Best Original Instrumental – “Know Thyself” from EricaBest Interactive Score – Erica(graduate of the ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop) HEINZ AWARDGABRIELA LENA FRANK …for breaking cultural, gender and disability barriers in classical music
TOP BRASS
IVOR NOVELLO AWARDS DAVE (PRS)
Best Contemporary Song – “Black” CALVIN HARRIS & RAG ‘N’ BONE MAN (PRS)
PRS for Music Most Performed Work – “Giant” INFLO (PRS)
Best Album – Grey Area (Little Simz) STEVE MAC (PRS)
Songwriter of the Year
LATIN GRAMMYS Highlights... JULIO REYES COPELLO
CARLOS HERNÁNDEZ CARBONELL
ALEJANDRO SANZ (SGAE)
Record of the Year - “Contigo” NATALIA LAFOURCADE
Album of the Year - Un Canto por México, Vol. 1Best Alternative Song - “En Cantos”Best Regional Song - “Mi Religión” FITO PAEZ
Best Pop/Rock Album - La Conquista del EspacioBest Pop/Rock Song - “La Canción de las Bestias” MIKE BAHÍA
Best New Artist MAURICIO RENGIFO
Producer of the Year
MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS ARIANA GRANDE
Song of the Year – “Rain on Me”Best Collaboration – “Rain on Me”Best Music Video From Home – “Stuck with U” (w/ Justin Bieber) COLDPLAY
Best Rock – “Orphans”
BTS (KOMCA)
Best GroupBest Pop – “On”Best K-Pop – “On” THE WEEKND (SOCAN)
Video of the Year – “Blinding Lights”Best R&B – “Blinding Lights”
NAACP IMAGE AWARDS BEYONCÉ
Outstanding Album – Homecoming: The Live AlbumOutstanding Female ArtistOutstanding Song, Traditional – “Spirit”Outstanding Song, Contemporary – “Before I Let Go”Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration – “Brown Skin Girl” (w/ Blue Ivy & WizKiD)Outstanding Soundtrack/Compilation Album – The Lion King: The Gift
NEA JAZZ MASTERS AWARDROSCOE MITCHELL
Honoring living legends who have made exceptional contributions to the advancement of jazz
PEABODY AWARDS ENTERTAINMENT
KYLE DIXON & MICHAEL STEIN – Stranger ThingsDRUM & LACE & IAN HULTQUIST – DickinsonGARY GUNN - David Makes ManTRENT REZNOR – WatchmenDAN ROMER & MIKE TUCCILLO – RamyISOBEL WALLER-BRIDGE (PRS) – Fleabag DOCUMENTARIES
NATHAN MATTHEW DAVID – Surviving R. KellyERIK ENOCKSSON, JOAQUIN GARCIA
& UNO HELMERSSON (all STIM) - POV: The Distant Barking of DogsLEONARDO HEIBLUM & JACOBO LIEBERMAN (both SACM) – POV: The Silence of Others
TOP BRASS
ALEX SOMERS (PRS) – Independent Lens: Hale County This Morning, This Evening CHILDREN’S & YOUTH
LORENZO CASTELLI WITH THE
EGGPLANT COLLECTIVE (SOCAN) – Molly of Denali
PREMIOS LO NUESTRO Highlights...
DADDY YANKEE
Artist of the YearCrossover Collaboration of the Year – “Con Calma” (w/ Snow)Remix of the Year – “Soltera (Remix)” (w/ Bad Bunny & Lunay)Single of the Year – “Con Calma” (w/ Snow)Song of the Year – “Con Calma” (w/ Snow)Urban Song of the Year – “Con Calma” (w/ Snow)Urban Male Artist of the Year BAD BUNNY
Album of the Year – OasisRemix of the Year – “Soltera (Remix)” (w/ Lunay & Daddy Yankee)Tour of the YearUrban/Trap Song of the Year – “Callaíta”Video of the Year – “Flor” SEBASTIÁN YATRA
Pop/Rock Artist of the YearPop/Rock Song of the Year – “Un Año” (w/ Reik)Regional Mexican Collaboration of the Year – “Un Año” PEDRO CAPÓ & FARRUKO – “CALMA (REMIX)”
Pop/Rock Collaboration of the YearUrban/Pop Song of the Year
PULITZER PRIZE ANTHONY DAVIS
Music – The Central Park Five MICHAEL R. JACKSON
Drama – A Strange Loop*First Black musical theatre writer to win a Pulitzer
SPHINX MEDAL OF EXCELLENCECARLOS SIMON ...recognizing extraordinary classical Black and Latinx musicians(graduate of the ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop)
STELLAR AWARDS TASHA COBBS LEONARD
Artist of the YearContemporary Female Vocalist of the Year JJ HAIRSTON
Praise and Worship Album of the Year – Miracle Worker RONALD HILL
Producer of the Year – Long Live Love DESMOND DAVIS, MARSHON LEWIS
& ROBERT WOOLRIDGE
Song of the Year – “Deliver Me (This Is My Exodus)”
WOODY GUTHRIE PRIZE
JOAN BAEZ ...in honor of her groundbreaking career and impact on humanitarian causes
WORLD SOUNDTRACK AWARDS ALFONSO G. AGUILAR (SGAE)
Public Choice Award - Klaus BRYCE DESSNER
Discovery of the Year - The Two Popes CYNTHIA ERIVO (PRS)
Best Original Song - “Stand Up” from Harriet ANA KASRASHVILI
SABAM Award for Best Original Composition by a Young Composer (graduate of the ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop)
GABRIEL YARED (SACEM)
Lifetime Achievement Award
TOP BRASS
CHARTED TERRITORY
Matthew Ramsey, Trevor Rosen, Whit Sellers, Geoff Sprung and Brad Tursi have been playing music together for a long time, and earned plen-ty of accolades in the process. But 2020 saw a landslide of honors, awards and distinctions at a scale unimaginable during an unpredictable year. They were named ACM Group of the Year and CMA Vocal Group of the Year, both for the third time. Their hit “Some People Do” earned the band a GRAMMY for Best Country Duo/
Group Performance, and netted Ramsey a sec-ond nom in the Best Country Song category. And the love rolled in for their radio smash “One Man Band,” co-written with Josh Osborne – the song was ACM Song of the Year and ASCAP Country Song of the Year, won a CMT award for Group Video of the Year, and was nominated for the CMA Song of the Year. With a trail of platinum hits in their wake, Old Dominion sailed into 2021 with the wind at their backs.
BAD BUNNY
#1 Hot Latin Songwriter AARON DESSNER
#1 Hot Rock Songs Producer FINNEAS
#1 Hot 100 Producer DANN HUFF
#1 Hot Country Songs Producer
LIL BABY
#1 Hot 100 Songwriter#1 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songwriter#1 Hot Rap Songwriter OZ (SOCAN)
#1 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Producer#1 Hot Rap Producer TYSON TRAX
#1 Hot R&B Songs Producer THE WEEKND (SOCAN)
#1 Hot R&B Songwriter
CHARTED TERRITORYASCAP MEMBERS CRAFTED THE MOST POPULAR MUSIC OF 2020
ASCAP songwriters in the top 20 of the year-end Hot 100 Songwriters and Hot Country Songwriters charts, or the top 10 of year-end Hot Christian, Hot Dance/Electronic, Hot Gospel, Hot Latin, Hot R&B, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop, Hot Rap and Hot Rock Songwriters charts:
AHMAD ASHAD “BELLY” BALSHE (SOCAN)
TRAVIS BARKER
LOUIS BELL
JUSTIN BIEBER
DABABY
DADDY YANKEE
DAHEALA (SOCAN)
DUA LIPA
BILLIE EILISH
ASHLEY GORLEY
JAHMAL GWIN
OSCAR THOMAS HOLTER (STIM)
JETSONMADE
HILLARY LINDSEY
STEVE MAC (PRS)
JOHNNY D. MARKS
MAX MARTIN (STIM)
JOSH OSBORNE
POO BEAR
JIMMY ROBBINS
SETHINTHEKITCHEN
JONATHAN SINGLETON
TONES AND I (APRA)
MATTHEW WEST
CRAIG WISEMAN
YOUNGBOY NEVER BROKE AGAIN
YEAR-END SONGWRITER & PRODUCER CHARTS
Puerto Rico’s Jhay Cortez has long been
a go-to songwriter for reggaeton’s biggest
stars, including Bad Bunny, Natti Natasha,
J Balvin and Tainy. 2020 was the year when
Jhay emerged as a hitmaking artist in his
own right. In February he released Famouz
Reloaded, a souped-up version of his 2019
album featuring new songs and collabs
with Karol G, Wisin & Yandel and Ozuna.
Three months later the music video for “No
Me Conoce (Remix)” – Jhay’s massively
successful collaboration with J Balvin and
Bad Bunny – joined YouTube’s Billion Views
Club. And in October, his hypnotic Bad
Bunny collab #1 “Dákiti” became the first
Spanish-language song to reach #1 on the
Billboard Global 200 and Global Excl. US
200 charts simultaneously. With no end in
sight for this prolific singer-songwriter’s
creativity, the sky’s the limit for his success.
STOPTHE PRESSES
Amanda Jones’s rise in the world of screen
music has been meteoric. Just a few years
ago, she was working as an assistant at Hans
Zimmer’s Remote Control Studios. In 2020,
she became the first Black woman to receive
an Emmy nomination for original television
score, for her work on the Apple TV+ series
Home. Her credits piled up last year, with
interesting and exciting projects including
OWN’s anthology series Cherish the Day,
created and produced by Ava DuVernay,
and BET’s Twenties, created and written by
Lena Waithe. And Jones is using her success
to lift up others – she is a co-founder of
the Composers Diversity Collective, where
she connects producers and studios with
underrepresented composers. Through both
her own work and her elevation of others,
Amanda Jones is changing the landscape of
screen music for the better.
TINY DESK CONTESTLINDA DIAZ
“Green Tea Ice Cream”
HITMAKERS HONOREES
JENNA ANDREWS (SOCAN)
Isolation Salvation Song of the Year – “Supalonely”
LEWIS CAPALDI (PRS)
Songwriter of the Year
CHARLI XCX
Innovator of the Year
LIL BABY
Voice of Impact Award
MUSTARD
Producer of the Year
THE WEEKND (SOCAN)
Hitmakers Record of the Year – “Blinding Lights”
METACRITIC TOP 40 ALBUMS OF 2020Aggregates rankings by professional critics
1. FIONA APPLE – Fetch the Bolt Cutters
4. PHOEBE BRIDGERS – Punisher
6. RUN THE JEWELS – RTJ4
7. HAIM – Women in Music, Pt. III
10. DUA LIPA – Future Nostalgia
14. NEIL YOUNG – Homegrown
15. DEFTONES – Ohms
16. FLEET FOXES – Shore
17. PORRIDGE RADIO (PRS) – Every Bad
18. JARV IS… (PRS) – Beyond the Pale
24. BIFFY CLYRO (PRS) – A Celebration of Endings
25. THUNDERCAT – It Is What It Is
26. KELLY LEE OWENS (PRS) – Inner Song
27. ADRIANNE LENKER – songs and instrumentals
28. CARIBOU (PRS) – Suddenly
31. HAYLEY WILLIAMS – Petals for Armor
34. LIANNE LA HAVAS (PRS) – Lianne La Havas
35. SPARKS – A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip
36. CHARLI XCX – how i’m feeling now
39. RUFUS WAINWRIGHT – Unfollow the Rules
STOP THE PRESSESASCAP MEMBERS SINGLED OUT FOR CRITICAL ACCLAIM
Acclaimed pianist and composer Anthony Davis has built
a career out of writing complex, compelling operas about
real-life human rights and civil rights stories. 34 years
after he premiered X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X –
considered the first contemporary political opera – Davis
earned a Pulitzer Prize in 2020 for his latest, The Central
Park Five, about the five Black youth wrongly convicted of
rape and assault in 1990. Davis’s propulsive score weaves
strains of jazz, R&B and hip-hop into a cutting-edge classical
framework, and in the words of the Pulitzer jury, “skillfully
transforms a notorious example of contemporary injustice
into something empathetic and hopeful.” Next up? Operas
grappling with 2015 Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof,
and the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921.
Named one of the 35 most significant women composers in
history by The Washington Post, Gabriela Lena Frank writes
colorful classical music often imbued with the unique sounds
and languages of Latin America. Frank’s compositions
reflect her multiracial heritage and kaleidoscopic musical
interests, but they also reflect her activist, humanist spirit
– traits that underpin her work at the burgeoning Gabriela
Lena Frank Creative Academy in rural Boonville, CA. In 2020
Frank won the 25th anniversary Heinz Award, in recognition
of her pioneering work as a composer breaking gender,
disability and cultural barriers, and also as a champion of
emerging composers from diverse backgrounds.
ANTHONY DAVIS
GABRIELA LENA FRANK
THE G.O.A.T.
Since the release of his first mixtape Perfect Timing,
hip-hop superhero Lil Baby’s star has continued
to rise. His 2018 debut album Harder Than Ever
was certified platinum and subsequent releases
climbed the charts and garnered the Atlanta
native a legion of loyal fans. But 2020 saw Lil Baby
truly explode and meet the cultural moment. In
the wake of the murder of George Floyd and the
protests of summer 2020, he released “The Bigger
Picture” – a stirring tribute and rallying cry to the
Black Lives Matter movement. It was nominated
for two GRAMMY Awards, and became his
biggest chart success so far. Lil Baby’s voice kept
ringing out proudly in 2020 with the release of his
album My Turn. It was the most-consumed album
of 2020, and helped Lil Baby become Global Artist
of the Year at the 2020 Apple Music Awards. Lil
Baby truly made a difference in 2020, proving
himself a vital voice in the music community, a
fierce advocate for the Black community, and a
true hip-hop innovator.
SONGWRITERS WITH MOST #1 HITS WRITTEN SOLO
LIONEL RICHIE (8)DIANE WARREN (8)GEORGE MICHAEL (7)PAUL McCARTNEY (PRS) (7)STEVIE WONDER (7)
PHIL COLLINS (PRS) (4)JOHN DENVER (3)BILLY JOEL (3)RICHARD MARX (3)MAURICE STARR (3)
NATIONAL RECORDING REGISTRY INDUCTIONS PAUL WHITEMAN AND HIS ORCHESTRA –
“Whispering” (1920)MEMPHIS MINNIE – “Me and My Chauffeur Blues” (1941)PUCCINI’S Tosca (1953)ALLAN SHERMAN – “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh” (1963)GLEN CAMPBELL – “Wichita Lineman” (written by Jimmy Webb) (1968)FRED ROGERS – Mister Rogers Sings 21 Favorite Songs from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood (1973)FREDERICK FENNELL AND THE CLEVELAND
SYMPHONIC WINDS – Holst: Suite No. 1 in E-Flat, Suite No. 2 in F / Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks / Bach: Fantasia in G (1978)DR. DRE – The Chronic (1992)WHITNEY HOUSTON – “I Will Always Love You” (1992)MARIA SCHNEIDER ORCHESTRA – Concert in the Garden (2004)COLIN CURRIE – Jennifer Higdon: Percussion Concerto (2008)
KENNEDY CENTER HONOREESJOAN BAEZ
GARTH BROOKS
THE 100 GREATEST DEBUT SINGLES OF ALL TIME 1. “…Baby One More Time” (Britney Spears) Writer: Max Martin (STIM)
2. “I Want You Back” (The Jackson 5) Writers: Berry Gordy, Alphonso Mizell, Frederick Perren3. “Anarchy in the U.K.” (The Sex Pistols) Writers: The Sex Pistols (PRS)
4. “Sucker M.C.’s/It’s Like That” (Run-DMC) Writer: Darryl McDaniels7. “Good Times Bad Times” (Led Zeppelin) Writers: Led Zeppelin9. “Blitzkrieg Bop” (The Ramones) Writers: The Ramones12. “Old Town Road” (Lil Nas X) Writers: Jozzy, Trent Reznor13. “White Riot” (The Clash) Writers: The Clash (PRS)
15. “Rock Lobster” (The B-52’s) Writers: The B-52s16. “Creep” (Radiohead) Writers: Radiohead (PRS), Albert Hammond17. “Player’s Ball” (Outkast) Writer: André 300019. “Dreaming of Me” (Depeche Mode) Writer: Vince Clarke (PRS)
NASHVILLE SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME INDUCTEESSTEVE EARLE
BOBBIE GENTRY
BRETT JAMES
SPOONER OLDHAM
THE G.O.A.T. HONORING THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME
© 2021 American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers (ASCAP)