Ella Langley, Jessie Jo Dillon and Ben West were among the BMI affiliates recognized at the 38th annual MusicRow Awards in Nashville.
BMI songwriters came out of the 38th annual MusicRow Awards with a clear edge, collecting honors in 10 of the 16 major categories at the Nashville trade publication’s subscriber-voted event on Sept. 2.
Ella Langley was the night’s biggest winner. She took Entertainer of the Year, Female Artist of the Year and Song of the Year for “Choosin’ Texas,” the 20-week Billboard Hot 100 hit she wrote with BMI songwriters Joybeth Taylor, Luke Dick and Miranda Lambert. The song’s co-producer, Ben West, was named Producer of the Year for the first time.
Langley’s sweep anchors BMI’s night
Langley’s three wins put her at the center of the awards, but BMI’s showing went well beyond one breakout run. Riley Green won Male Artist of the Year, while The Red Clay Strays were named Group/Duo Artist of the Year. Carter Faith, who won Discovery Artist of the Year last year, moved up to Breakthrough Artist of the Year this time around.
The awards also recognized the writers behind the scenes. Jessie Jo Dillon, a GRAMMY-nominated songwriter, earned Female Songwriter of the Year for the second straight year. Dan Alley was named Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year, and Hudson Westbrook took Breakthrough Artist-Writer of the Year.
Songwriters and producers still drive the room
The MusicRow Awards have long been one of Nashville’s key trade honors, built around the people who write, produce and shape the records that move the market. Winners are chosen by MusicRow subscribers, which keeps the focus on the industry audience that follows credits as closely as charts.
For BMI, the result was a strong showing across the categories that matter most to publishers, managers and PRO executives: song of the year, songwriter honors, producer recognition and artist categories tied directly to the writing side of the business.
That mix matters in Nashville, where the line between artist and songwriter is often the line that defines long-term value. Langley, Dillon, Alley and Westbrook all landed on the winning side of that equation. So did West, whose first Producer of the Year win put a spotlight on the people helping turn songs into records that travel.
MusicRow’s subscriber vote keeps the focus on credits
The MusicRow Awards remain Nashville’s longest-running music industry trade publication awards program, honoring songwriters, artists, producers and others across country music’s business side. This year’s winners list again showed how tightly the city’s ecosystem is tied to publishing, production and artist development.
MusicRow and BMI both pointed to the full list of winners after the ceremony. The BMI-affiliated names dominated the top categories, with Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” standing out as the night’s signature song and the clearest example of how a single record can carry both artist momentum and publishing weight.
Photo credit for the BMI winners image was listed as MusicRow.
