Christian Music Stars, Chart-Topping Producers And The Genre's Biggest Songwriters Come Together For Two-Day Virtual Celebration For 2020 ASCAP Christian Music Awards

Matthew West is ASCAP Christian Music Songwriter of the Year; "Nobody" is Christian Song of the Year

Capitol CMG Publishing is Publisher of the Year for 18th Consecutive Year

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Oct 09, 2020, 09:05 ET

NEW YORK, Oct. 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2020 ASCAP Christian Music Awards, taking place this year in an innovative virtual awards format, shined a spotlight on the genre across all social media platforms.

Exclusive photos, acceptance speeches and performances from Christian music's top songwriters, producers and publishers were shared via @ASCAP on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. A complete list of winners can be found on the ASCAP website at www.ascap.com/christianawards20.

Highlights included:

ASCAP Chairman of the Board and President Paul Williams's video introduction to this year's virtual Christian Music Awards celebration, thanking ASCAP songwriters, composers and music publishers: "What we do, harnessing what's in our hearts and souls to create art that can transform lives has great power. We can offer healing and a vision for a better future. We can move hearts and minds and inspire real change. That deserves to be honored and celebrated." LINK
A heartfelt message from Matthew West, ASCAP Christian Music Songwriter of the Year and Song of the Year winner for "Nobody:" "I love writing songs. That's really it … I love it. I wake up in the morning and I get excited by the thought that it's part of my day. I love working with other writers and artists. There are so many talented people in the music industry. You guys make me better. You make me want to be better." With special thanks to ASCAP, Mark Hall of Casting Crowns, Provident Label Group, and Chris Farren and Chris Van Belkom from Combustion Music, he closed with, "Now more than ever, the world needs songs filled with hope because there is a void of hope in this world, but I believe that music can help fill that void. Music that lets them know that hope can still be found. It's my honor to write songs like that, and those are the kind of songs I wanna write until my last breath." LINK
West gives us the story behind ASCAP Christian Music Awards Song of the Year "Nobody," before performing it exclusively for ASCAP: "This is a song about maybe coming to the realization that being a nobody ain't such a bad thing." LINK
A beautiful, exclusive performance of "God Only Knows" by for KING & COUNTRY, featuring ASCAP Award-winning writer Joel Smallbone and his brother Luke Smallbone. LINK
Christian Music Publisher of the Year, Capitol CMG Publishing's co-president Brad O'Donnell accepting the award and sharing a virtual high-five with the rest of his team via Zoom. LINK
Jason Roy of Building 429 offering personal congratulations to first-time winner Riley Friesen on his award for the band's hit, "Fear No More," recalling how it "started out as a ballad and ended up being this big ol' anthemic song." LINK
Brett Younker, co-writer of the Pat Barrett hit "Build My Life," accepting his award from home: "It's just really special to think about. There's been people all over the world that have been singing this song over the last couple of years." LINK
Songwriter Riley Friesen and publisher Stacey Willbur of Full Circle Music Publishing excitedly unboxing, cheering and thanking ASCAP for their awards for "Fear No More" by Building 429. LINK
Sincere thanks from first-time winner Andrew Bergthold of We the Kingdom for "Holy Water," saying "It is an incredible honor to get this award… it means the world to me. Thank you to all the staff at ASCAP for all the work and hours that you put in on our behalf." LINK
Jon Lowry of Unspoken accepting delivery of his award for the hit "Reason" from his enthusiastic toddler daughter (LINK) and a special performance of "Reason" by the band. LINK
Michael Cochren, out on a drive-in tour, remotely accepting his first ASCAP Awards for "Church (Take Me Back)" and "One Day" from his publisher Jess Chambers of Emack Music, saying "It's been amazing to be part of the music community this year and get to contribute songs that people are hearing and hopefully point them to the hope beyond 2020… I'm floored and humbled." (LINK)
A mini-movie from Ryan Stevenson unboxing the award for his hit "With Lifted Hands." LINK
Exclusive photos of top Christian music songwriters with their awards, including Ben Glover for "Almost Home" and "Best News Ever," both by MercyMe (LINK); Colby Wedgeworth for "Faith" by Jordan Feliz, "Greatness of Our God" by Newsboys and "Haven't Seen It Yet" by Danny Gokey (LINK); Paul Duncan for "Faith" by Jordan Feliz (LINK); first-time winners Dameon Aranda (LINK) and Louis Biancaniello (LINK) pictured with their awards for "Symphony" by Switch.

About ASCAP
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is a professional membership organization of songwriters, composers and music publishers of every kind of music. ASCAP's mission is to license and promote the music of its members and foreign affiliates, obtain fair compensation for the public performance of their works and to distribute the royalties that it collects based upon those performances. ASCAP members write the world's best-loved music and ASCAP has pioneered the efficient licensing of that music to hundreds of thousands of enterprises who use it to add value to their business - from bars, restaurants and retail, to radio, TV and cable, to Internet, mobile services and more. The ASCAP license offers an efficient solution for businesses to legally perform ASCAP music while respecting the right of songwriters and composers to be paid fairly. With more than 775,000 members representing more than 11.5 million copyrighted works, ASCAP is the worldwide leader in performance royalties, service and advocacy for songwriters and composers, and the only American performing rights organization (PRO) owned and governed by its writer and publisher members. Learn more and stay in touch at www.ascap.com, on Twitter and Instagram @ASCAP and on Facebook.

SOURCE ASCAP