BMI has named two promotions within the company’s Distribution, Publisher Relations & Administration Services department. Both based in Nashville, Shouvik Das has been elevated to Senior Vice President, Distribution, Publisher Relations & Administration Services, and Misha Hunke was promoted to Vice President, Administration & Publisher Relations.

These new roles will streamline the reporting structure of the Distribution & Administration departments, which previously reported as separate entities to Alison Smith, Executive Vice President, Distribution, Publisher Relations, and Administration Services. Both departments will now function under Das, who will continue to report to Smith. Hunke will now report directly to Das.

“Shouvik and Misha consistently go above and beyond to serve our songwriters, composers and music publishers,” shares Smith. “In the past year alone, they’ve overseen multiple initiatives including processing nearly two trillion performances, launching phase one of Songview and the early distribution of royalty payments to BMI’s affiliates during the first two quarters of the pandemic.” Smith adds, “This new reporting structure will help the department function even more seamlessly, and I look forward to working with Shouvik and Misha in their new roles and seeing the team thrive under their leadership.”

Das previously served as Vice President, Distribution & Administration Services. He joined BMI in 2003 as an Executive Director of Finance and Business Control Solutions before moving to Distributions and Administration Services, where he was Assistant Vice President of Performing Rights.

Das will continue to work closely with Smith to manage the relationships with BMI’s publishers, while overseeing the company’s domestic and international royalty distributions and administration services to affiliated songwriters, composers, and publishers.

Hunke was previously the Assistant Vice President of Distribution and Administration Services. She oversaw the teams’ daily functions and strategic direction, including collaborating with major publisher clients and industry-wide administration professionals regarding digital initiatives, royalties, licensing, data quality and administration. She also spearheaded strategic development projects designed to increase efficiencies, create quality controls, and improve customer service to affiliates. Hunke joined BMI in 1987 in the Writer/Publisher Relations department and has been a member of the Distribution and Administration Services department’s client service team since 1995.

Hunke will take on a more expansive role in leading business areas of the department, including affiliation, agreements, royalty assignments, research, publisher customer services, and online services. She will also continue to supervise the business team responsible for Songview, the searchable data platform developed with ASCAP that currently features copyright ownership information on over 20 million works.

Following the announcement of this year’s nominees for the 33rd MusicRow Awards, we take a look at the MusicRow Male Songwriter of the Year category. Male Songwriter of the Year nominees are based on data from MusicRow’s Top Songwriter Chart. Eligible projects were active between June 1, 2020 to May 31, 2021.

The MusicRow Awards will be announced virtually among multiple MusicRow platforms on Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021. Presenting Sponsor of the 2021 MusicRow Awards is City National Bank.

Click here to see the full list of MusicRow Awards nominees.

Winners are determined solely by MusicRow Magazine subscribed members. Voting is now open and closes on July 23 at 5 p.m.

To receive a ballot to vote in the MusicRow Awards, become a MusicRow subscribed member here.

Ross Copperman
Sony Music Publishing Nashville, BMI
“Nobody But You” recorded by Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani
“The Other Girl” recorded by Kelsea Ballerini and Halsey
“Lady” recorded by Lady A
“We Were Rich” recorded by Runaway June
“Happy Anywhere” recorded by Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani
“Beers And Sunshine” recorded by Darius Rucker
“Half Of My Hometown” recorded by Kelsea Ballerini ft. Kenny Chesney

Jesse Frasure
Warner Chappell Nashville/Rhythm House/Roc Nation, BMI
“Some People Do” recorded by Old Dominion
“Center Point Road” recorded by Thomas Rhett
“Hole In The Bottle” recorded by Kelsea Ballerini
“Almost Maybes” recorded by Jordan Davis
“Whiskey And Rain” recorded by Michael Ray
“What’s Your Country Song” recorded by Thomas Rhett
“Minimum Wage” recorded by Blake Shelton

Ashley Gorley
Round Hill Music, ASCAP
“Catch” recorded by Brett Young
“One Big Country Song” recorded by LoCash
“Hole In The Bottle” recorded by Kelsea Ballerini
“Hard To Forget” recorded by Sam Hunt
“One Of Them Girls” recorded by Lee Brice
“Single Saturday Night” recorded by Cole Swindell
“We Were Rich” recorded by Runaway June
“Give Heaven Some Hell” recorded by Hardy
“What’s Your Country Song” recorded by Thomas Rhett
“You Should Probably Leave” recorded by Chris Stapleton
“Sand In My Boots” recorded by Morgan Wallen
“Warning” recorded by Morgan Wallen
“Country Again” recorded by Thomas Rhett

Randy Montana
Warner Chappell Nashville, BMI
“I Hope You’re Happy Now” recorded by Carly Pearce and Lee Brice
“Better Together” recorded by Luke Combs
“Pretty Heart” recorded by Parker McCollum
“Young Man’s Blues” recorded by Parker McCollum
“We Didn’t Have Much” recorded by Justin Moore
“Cold As You” recorded by Luke Combs
“If It Wasn’t For Trucks” recorded by Riley Green

Josh Osborne
Sony Music Publishing Nashville/SMACK Songs, ASCAP
“Never Be Sorry” recorded by Old Dominion
“Nobody But You” recorded by Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani
“Hard To Forget” recorded by Sam Hunt
“Breaking Up Was Easy In The ‘90s” recorded by Sam Hunt
“How They Remember You” recorded by Rascal Flatts
“Happy Anywhere” recorded by Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani
“Beers And Sunshine” recorded by Darius Rucker
“7 Summers” recorded by Morgan Wallen
“Next Girl” recorded by Carly Pearce
“Sand In My Boots” recorded by Morgan Wallen

Josh Thompson
MV2 Entertainment, BMI
“One Margarita” recorded by Luke Bryan
“Ain’t Always The Cowboy” recorded by Jon Pardi
“Be A Light” recorded by Thomas Rhett featuring Hillary Scott, Chris Tomlin, Reba McEntire, Keith Urban
“Build Me A Daddy” recorded by Luke Bryan
“Whiskey And Rain” recorded by Michael Ray
“Wasted On You” recorded by Morgan Wallen

The Grand Ole Opry honored Country Music Hall of Famer Bill Anderson on his 60th anniversary as an Opry member on Saturday, July 17. In celebration of the Grammy-nominated and ACM Poet Award honoree, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee issued an official proclamation that July 17 is “Bill Anderson Day.” Nashville Mayor John Cooper also proclaimed July 17 as “Bill Anderson Day” in Music City.

Anderson made his Opry debut just a few weeks before his 21st birthday and became an official Opry member less than three years later on July 15, 1961 at 23, making him the youngest member at the time. Sara Evans and Opry members Mark Wills and Vince Gill joined other artists on stage to congratulate the Country Music Hall of Famer on his milestone 60th Anniversary.

“First of all, it’s really hard to imagine I’ve been at the Grand Ole Opry for 60 years,” shared Anderson. “It seems like yesterday they asked me if I wanted to be a part of this great family, and of course I couldn’t wait to tell them yes and be a part of this wonderful family… I tell people all the time that the Grand Ole Opry is like Yankee Stadium to a baseball player, or Broadway to an actor, or Hollywood to someone in film. It’s the highest rung on the ladder. It’s as high as you can go in country music and I’m just thankful that I’ve gotten to be here for 60 years.”

Anderson’s music career started in 1958 when Ray Price recorded his song, “City Lights” and it stayed at the top of the Billboard country charts for 13 weeks. Soon after this success, he signed with Decca Records and began to have hits of his own such as “Po’ Folks,” “Mama Sang a Song,” “Still” and “Bright Lights and Country Music.” Through the years Anderson has written hit songs for numerous artists, including Lefty Frizzell’s “Saginaw, Michigan,” Conway Twitty’s “I May Never Get to Heaven,” and many more, including Kenny Chesney’s “A Lot of Things Different,” George Strait’s “Give It Away,” and Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss’ “Whiskey Lullaby,” with the last two hits winning CMA Song of the Year honors.