Matthew West. Photo: Sean Hagwell.

ASCAP is holding its 44th annual Christian Music Awards today (Sept. 21) across all social media platforms. The event celebrates the past year’s most performed ASCAP Christian songs, and the awards feature exclusive photos, performances and interviews from some of the winning songwriters and publishers posted with the hashtag #ASCAPAwards on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Singer-songwriter Matthew West clinched the ASCAP Christian Songwriter of the Year for the fifth time, recognizing his work on hits “Look What You’ve Done,” “My Jesus,” “Scars in Heaven,” “Weary Traveler” and “What If.” Co-written by West, “My Jesus” has been named the Christian Song of the Year. The debut single from artist Anne Wilson topped both the Christian Airplay and Hot Christian Songs charts. The track was also nominated for Top Christian Song at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards.

For the 20th consecutive year, Capitol CMG Publishing claims the title of ASCAP Christian Music Publisher of the Year for songs such as “Be Alright,” “Child of Love,” “In the House,” “Next to Me” and more. The Capitol CMG publishing team will come together to celebrate the honor and accept the award on an ASCAP social media-shared video.

Additionally, the virtual ceremony will present an exclusive video performance by David Spencer of “In Jesus Name (God of Possible),” his hit song for Katy Nichole. Blessing Offor and Sam Ellis will tell the story behind the award-winning “Brighter Days,” and Jordan St. Cyr and co-writer A.J. Prius will explain how they created “Weary Traveler” with West.

For the full list of ASCAP Christian Music Awards winners, click here.

The Gospel Music Association has announced the first round of artists performing on the upcoming 53rd Annual GMA Dove Awards on Oct. 18 at Nashville’s Allen Arena.

Erica Campbell, Jekalyn Carr, Crowder, Chris Tomlin, Phil Wickham, and Gateway Worship Español featuring Daniel Calveti, Becky Collazos, Christine D’Clario and Josh Morales have all been tapped to perform on the awards, which will air exclusively on TBN and the TBN app on Oct. 21, with an encore presentation on Oct. 28.

The sold-out event will be hosted by multi-chart toppers and award-winning superstars Erica Campbell and Chris Tomlin.

Further details, including more performers and presenters, will be announced in the coming weeks.

Photo: Courtesy of SOLID

In 1997, a small group of rising music industry professionals in Nashville started the Society of Leaders In Development, or SOLID.

The goal of SOLID was to develop a community for its membership that combined social networking with community service and educational opportunities. The ideal membership for such an organization was to be entry to mid-level industry professionals who may not have the resources or opportunities to belong to other organizations in the music industry, such as Leadership Music or the CMA Board.

25 years later, SOLID has become a vibrant organization for future leaders of the music industry. Through its community-building events, educational opportunities and philanthropic efforts, SOLID has continued its mission to improve the future of Music Row.

In addition to general organization and committee meetings, SOLID brings industry members together for events such as happy hours, the annual crawfish boil, writer’s rounds, and other networking opportunities.

To honor its tenant of education, SOLID holds Q&A sessions with industry leaders and panels focused on issues facing the community. It also facilitates mentorship opportunities for members to mentor students, as well as opportunities to be mentored by other industry professionals.

Photo: Courtesy of SOLID

With community service as another key point of its mission, SOLID creates a multitude of ways for members to serve the community. Whether it be by its Music Row Madness fundraiser or by smaller initiatives, it’s clear that the organization sees investing in the community as paramount. In the last 25 years, SOLID has raised over $1,000,000 for other industry non-profits.

Members of SOLID come from all areas of the music business community, therefore contributing to the diversity, productivity and integrity of the group. The organization’s board of directors is continually adapting to meet the changing needs of their membership, working tirelessly to fulfill SOLID’s mission of helping, teaching and leading others.

To celebrate SOLID’s 25th anniversary, the organization will hold a gala on Thursday (Sept. 22). Ahead of the gala, SOLID President and Director of Publicity at Elicity Public Relations, Avery King, spoke to MusicRow about her experience with the organization.

Photo: Courtesy of SOLID

“When I first got started in the music industry, I was trying to network with as many people as I possibly could, and after taking countless meetings—I discovered that the common denominator between so many of the professionals I was meeting with was SOLID,” shares King.

After being encouraged by Elicity’s Elise Anderson to join the organization, King applied and was accepted in 2016. She spent two years leading SOLID’s communications committee before becoming Vice President in 2020 and President the following year.

“I would contribute the majority of my professional growth to SOLID because of the amount of people I have been able to connect and build relationships with,” King explains. “Most of these relationships have developed to be very meaningful friendships and are not just relationships that check a box of ‘networking.’ I’ve gotten the chance to meet hundreds of people that are all spending their free time wanting to grow within their careers—through our membership and also through our board.

“SOLID stands for the Society of Leaders in Development, and that couldn’t be a more accurate representation of what happens when you get involved with such a powerful group,” she adds.

Photo: Courtesy of SOLID

When looking back on the growth and achievements SOLID has seen over the last 25 years, King says that honoring the legacy of the organization is of the utmost importance.

“I believe that the legacy of SOLID is what it stands for: Society of Leaders in Development. Everyone is involved in SOLID for similar reasons—to expand their knowledge within the industry with people from all sides and to develop their own skills and leadership styles. We are all the leaders in development and our founders really thought through the name when they created the organization in 1997.

“In fact, we kicked off this year by hearing from our founding members during our new member retreat,” King adds. “They spoke to the fact that they couldn’t have ever imagined SOLID accomplishing all that we’ve been able to achieve. What started as a handful of people getting together to talk about what they wanted to accomplish within the music industry has now turned into over a thousand current members and alumni. That network has helped us grow year after year in our programming.

“To be in the 25th year and be able to say SOLID has raised over a million dollars for other nonprofits is something that they couldn’t have ever imagined.”

Breland. Photo: Jimmy Fontaine.

Platinum-selling artist Breland has announced his fall headline “Here For It Tour,” which will start in Oxford, Ohio on Nov. 16, and continue throughout December with more dates to come.

This announcement follows the CMA Award nominee’s release of his debut album, Cross Country, via Bad Realm Records, Atlantic Records and Warner Music Nashville.

Breland fans can get their tickets early starting tomorrow (Sept. 21) at 10 a.m. CT through Thursday, Sept. 22. Tickets will open to the public on Friday, Sept. 23 at 10 a.m. CT on brelandmusic.com.

Breland’s debut single, “For What It’s Worth,” written by Breland, Rocky Block, Jacob Durrett and Greylan James, will hit country radio on Oct. 17. This release follows his feature on Dierks Bentley’s No. 1, Gold-certified collaboration “Beers On Me” with Hardy.