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June 20, 2005

News, Christian, Gospel, Feature, BMI Christian Music Awards

BMI Christian Awards Reveal ‘Glory Defined’ as Song of the Year

Four Share Publisher Prize

BMI saluted the writers and publishers of the past year's most performed Christian songs during the BMI Christian Music Awards held June 20, with highest honors reserved for Building 429's "Glory Defined" as Song of the Year and Mark Hall as Songwriter of the Year.

Christian Music Awards Photo Slideshow
Click here for the Christian Awards Song List
Click here to read Casting Crowns' Bio
Click here to read Building 429's Bio

Senior Vice President Phil Graham, Vice President Paul Corbin and Director Joyce Rice of BMI's Writer/Publisher Relations department presented BMI Citations of Achievement to 22 songs in five categories: AC (Adult Contemporary), CHR (Christian Hit Radio), Contemporary/Traditional Gospel, Rock and Southern Gospel.

Building 429Mark Hall

Staged at the company's Music Row offices, the ceremonies featured special performances by Casting Crowns, Dottie Peoples, Legacy Five and George Rowe for the crowd of 250 writers, artists, and executives.

Casting Crowns

Jim Cooper and Jason Roy won the BMI Crystal for Most Performed Christian Song of the Year as writers of "Glory Defined." Published by Dayspring Music LLC, "Glory Defined" was recorded by Building 429 on their debut album Space In Between Us (Word Records). Roy is front man/guitarist and Cooper is producer of the group, which was named Top New Artist of 2005 by the Gospel Music Association. "Glory Defined" was recognized for AC and CHR airplay.

Dottie PeoplesLegacy Five

Mark Hall, lead singer of Casting Crowns, earned the title of BMI Christian Songwriter of the Year by collecting four BMI Citations of Achievement for writing "If We Are the Body" and "Who Am I," each included in the AC and CHR categories. Both songs are from Casting Crowns' self-titled, platinum debut on Beach Street/Reunion Records. This BMI honor caps an incredible two years for Hall and his group, which saw their first project reach platinum status. The Atlanta-area youth minister was also named Songwriter of the Year at the 2004 and 2005 Gospel Music Association Awards, with Casting Crowns chosen as the GMA's 2005 Group of the Year.

George RoweJim CooperJason Roy

In addition to Roy and Cooper, songwriters collecting two Citations each were Aaron Sprinkle in the Rock category ("Rawkfist" and "Sea of Faces") and AC-CHR winners Marc Byrd ("God of Wonders"), Kenny Greenberg ("More") and Brendan Graham [IMRO] ("You Raise Me Up").

Aaron SprinkleMarc Byrd

Other 2005 BMI award-winning songwriter/artists were rockers Pillar, John Cooper of Skillet, Michael Tait and Chad Chapin of Tait, and Thousand Foot Krutch; urban stars Fred Hammond and Keith "Wonderboy" Johnson; and Southern Gospel voices Gerald Crabb, Wayne Haun, Annie McRae and Rodney Griffin of Greater Vision.

Kenny GreenbergBrendan Graham

The ceremony also announced the Publisher of the Year, which was a four-way tie among Christian Taylor Music, Club Zoo Music, Inc., SWECS Music and Songs of Greater Vision. The award is determined by the highest percentage of copyright ownership in award songs.

Club Zoo Music, Inc. (owned by Franklin Miller and Sawyer Brown's Mark Miller) and SWECS Music (owned by three-time BMI Christian Songwriter of the Year Steven Curtis Chapman) collected the honor for publishing the Casting Crowns hits "If We Are the Body" and "Who Am I."

Two Southern Gospel companies also accepted the accolade: Christian Taylor Music (owned by Dottie Miller) with "I Wish I Could Have Been There," "If It Had Not Been the Lord" and "Places To Go, People To See"; and Songs of Greater Vision (owned by Greater Vision group members Rodney Griffin and Gerald Wolfe) with "He Is To Me" and "Just Ask."

BMI's Citation of Achievement performance certificates are given annually in recognition of popularity in the field of popular music, as measured by feature broadcast performances on American radio and television. This year's Christian Music Awards eligibility period ran January 1, 2004 through December 31, 2004.

In this story: Marc Byrd, Casting Crowns, Steven Curtis Chapman, John Cooper, Gerald Crabb, Kenny Greenberg, Fred Hammond, Wayne Haun, Dottie Peoples, Skillet, Aaron Sprinkle


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