Zach Bryan is taking home an award this CMA week.
While it might not be a CMA Award, which let’s be honest, it’s going to be pretty tough for anyone outside the mainstream country to ever take one of those home, it is still a high honor as he snagged a BMI Award. He was nominated for Best New Artist last year, and wound up losing to Jelly Roll, but something tells me that it was the first and last CMA Awards he’s gonna attend.
However, the night before the CMA Awards is an important night as many artists who attend the CMAs get dressed up to attend the BMI Country Music Awards. The BMI Awards are smaller than the CMA Awards, but some might argue they are just as important, if not more.
Broadcast Music, Inc., founded in 1939, is the largest music performing rights organization in the United States. So what does that mean? BMI handles the crucial aspects of songwriters’, composers’, and publishers’ careers, allowing them to make a living in this industry without being on stage.
According to their About Us page:
“BMI is the bridge between songwriters and the businesses and organizations that want to play their music publicly. As a global leader in music rights management, BMI serves as an advocate for the value of music, representing over 22.4 million musical works created and owned by more than 1.4 million songwriters, composers and music publishers.”
Long story short… the BMI Awards are for honoring the songwriters and publishers.
Since many artists today are not fully penning their work, sometimes cutting a song they had zero hand in when writing, BMI ensures that all the industry players are protected, recognized, and paid accordingly. But with that being said, for the artists that write their own music, the BMI Awards have some pretty big names in attendance, like Ella Langley, Miranda Lambert, Teddy Swims, and more, to name a few who walked the carpet last night.
While many honors were handed out during the evening, a face that country fans know and love walked away with a massive honor: Zach Bryan took home Songwriter of the Year in a 6-song tie with Chase McGill:
“Congrats to Zach Bryan on winning the 2024 BMI Country Awards Songwriter of the Year award for your songs ‘Burn, Burn, Burn,’ ‘Dawns’ and more!”
The songs BMI listed included “Burn, Burn, Burn,” “Hey Driver,” “Sun To Me,” “Dawns,” “I Remember Everything,” and “Oklahoma Smokeshow.” Meanwhile McGill was honored for Morgan Wallen’s “Ain’t That Some,” Luke Bryan’s “But I Got a Beer in My Hand,” Conner Smith’s “Creek Will Rise,” Russell Dickerson’s “God Gave Me a Girl,” Jordan Davis’s “Next Thing You Know,” and Thomas Rhett’s “Mamaw’s House.”
Although Bryan could not attend the awards ceremony due to his Quttin’ Time Tour schedule, he took a second to thank those who had supported him.
“Thank you, BMI. I truly appreciate it and all of you. Hard-earned victory.”
While Bryan was not the only one named a Songwriter of the Year last night, it’s still a huge honor to stand among some of the best songwriters in the industry.
Given the drama surrounding his public breakup with Barstool Sports personality Brianna Chickenfry, ZB has had a rough last few weeks, so it’s refreshing to talk about his music and stellar songwriting solely for a moment.
I know we are guilty of following the drama surrounding the bombs Brianna has dropped, but seeing this news makes me hopeful that we are on the backside of the drama and can get back to talking about his music more.
Congrats, ZB, keep ’em coming.
While you’re here, fire up his latest single, “High Road.”
