NMPA Honors Kacey Musgraves & Rhett Akins At Annual Meeting

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Kacey Musgraves.

The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) held its annual meeting on Wednesday (June 11) in New York City. The event honored Kacey Musgraves with this year’s Songwriter Icon Award and Rhett Akins with the Non-Performing Songwriter Icon Award.

In a tribute to Musgraves, Leon Bridges performed “Lonely Millionaire.” Musgraves performed a stirring rendition of “The Architect.”

Rhett Akins

“Thank you to David [Israelite] and the NMPA for continuing to hold the line and expand the pie for songwriters of this generation and the next. I am proud to be an ally to songwriters and the NMPA in this fight,” Musgraves said.

Akins’ son, Grammy-nominated artist Thomas Rhett, honored his father with a medley of songs including “That Ain’t My Truck” and “What’s Your Country Song.”

“David, I thank you and the NMPA for all that you do to help songwriters,” Akins said.

The event also featured the Billboard Songwriter Awards which crowned Gracie Abrams as Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year and Aaron Dessner the Triple Threat Award winner. After accepting their awards, the duo performed together on one of their many collaborations, “I Love You, I’m Sorry.”

Rhett Akins, David Israelite.

Global Head of Apple Music Oliver Schusser sat down for a keynote with NMPA President & CEO David Israelite and shed light on Apple Music’s posture within the industry saying, “The team on a day-to-day basis makes sure that songwriters are properly represented on the service. For us it’s all about the music and the creator.”

To end the evening, NMPA EVP and General Counsel Danielle Aguirre and Israelite gave the annual State Of The Industry Address.

Aguirre detailed the legal initiatives driving NMPA’s enforcement efforts, including sending six cease and desist letters this week to B2B vendors who NMPA says engaged in copyright infringement. According to the organization, these companies provide general licensing clients such as bars, casinos and restaurants with interactive music services without obtaining proper licenses and the growing problem demands action.

Israelite discussed the latest industry growth numbers including total revenue for 2024: $7,039,926,906, which is a 13.41% increase year over year. The thesis of the presentation was the need for songwriters and artists to stand together when negotiating where possible, critically with social media platforms who consistently underpay songwriters.

Thomas Rhett, Rhett Akins.

Thomas Rhett.

Lauryn Sink
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