The 19th annual SESAC Pop Awards were held at the New York Public Library this week.
Chuck D, Daniel Glass, Seymour Stein, Bryan-Michael Cox, Angela Hunte and many others celebrated the year’s top songwriters and publishers. Jon Platt is President of North America for Warner/Chappell Music. He received the prestigious SESAC Visionary Award. He gave a touching speech, which reflected on his rise in the publishing industry, which he says began with a conversation with Chuck D. Chuck was on hand to present the award. Read our interview with Jon below:
What does this honor mean to you?
It means everything to me, it’s great, I’m happy to be here and I’m super honored that they chose me this year. I’ve given almost half of my life to working with songwriters. A song is where it all starts and I couldn’t think of a better place to be as music publishing.
The first number one song that you published was TLC’s “Waterfalls”?
Yes the first writer I signed was a songwriter named Marqueze Etheridge and he trusted me and believed in me and the song was already written when I signed him but that was the first number one record that I ever was a part of. It felt so great I said, “I should do this a bunch more times.”
You also signed Jay Z to a publishing deal.
J I was a fan, I was a fan first and then I saw him in a club in LA, introduced myself and then a friend of mine Jay Brown, who J was actually friends with formally introduced us. I signed him very shortly after that and that was in I guess ’96 and he was at EMI. We had some amazing years together, he’s with me now at Warner/Chappell and I feel really proud and honored to say that I’m the only music publisher that Jay Z’s ever had. I don’t take it for granted.
Tell us about your role at Warner.
I’m the president of North America. It’s always to make sure our song writers are taken care of, that our team has every opportunity to succeed and we just want to be the best at what we do.
Check out Jon’s tribute video below, which features Usher, Beyonce, Pharrell and Martin Bandier, to name a few.
A complete list of SESAC honorees is below:
Songwriter of the Year: James Napier (PRS)
Song of the Year: “Stay With Me”
Written by James Napier (PRS) & William Phillips (PRS)
Published by: Salli Isaak Music Publishing (PRS)
Method Paperwork LTD (PRS)
Universal Tunes
Publisher of the Year: Universal Tunes
Visionary Award: Jon Platt
SESAC Sync Music Award: “Best Day of My Life”
Recorded by: American Authors
Written by Zac Barnett & James Shelley
Published by Zac Barnett Publishing, James Shelley Publishing, Round Hill Copyrights
“Fancy”
Recorded by: Iggy Azalea feat. Charli XCX
Songwriter: Charli XCX (PRS)
Publisher: Stellar Songs Ltd. (PRS), Sony ATV Sounds
“Boom Clap”
Recorded by: Charli XCX
Songwriter: Charli XCX (PRS)
Publisher(s): Stellar Songs Ltd. (PRS), Sony ATV Sounds
“I Love It”
Recorded by Icona Pop feat. Charli XCX
Songwriter: Charli XCX (PRS)
Publisher(s): Stellar Songs Ltd. (PRS), Sony ATV Sounds
“Stay With Me”
Recorded by Sam Smith
Written by James Napier (PRS) & William Phillips (PRS)
Publisher(s): Salli Isaak Music Publishing (PRS)
Method Paperwork LTD (PRS)
Universal Tunes
“Latch”
Recorded by: Disclosure feat. Sam Smith
Songwriters: James Napier (PRS), Howard Lawrence (PRS), Guy Lawrence (PRS)
Publisher(s): Universal Music Publishing Limited (PRS), Salli Isaak Music Publishing (PRS), Universal Tunes
“Rather Be”
Recorded by: Clean Bandit feat. Jess Glynne
Songwriter: James Napier (PRS)
Publisher(s): Salli Isaak Music Publishing (PRS), Universal Tunes
“I’m Not The Only One”
Recorded by: Sam Smith
Songwriter: James Napier (PRS)
Publisher: Salli Isaak Music Publishing (PRS), Universal Tunes
“La La La”
Recorded by: Naughty Boy feat. Sam Smith
Songwriter: James Napier (PRS)
Publisher: Salli Isaak Music Publishing (PRS), Universal Tunes
“Show Me”
Recorded by: Kid Ink feat. Chris Brown
Songwriter(s): Mikely “Mike Free” Adam
Publisher: Mike Free Productions, Songs Music Publishing
“Na Na”
Recorded by: Trey Songz
Songwriter(s): Mikely “Mike Free” Adam
Publisher(s): Mike Free Productions, Songs Music Publishing
“My Hitta (Nigga)”
Recorded by: YG feat. Jeezy & Rich Homie Quan
Songwriter: Mikely “Mike Free” Adam
Publisher: Mike Free Productions, Songs Music Publishing
“No Mediocre”
Recorded by: T.I. feat. Iggy Azalea
Songwriter: Mikely “Mike Free” Adam
Publisher(s): Mike Free Productions, Songs Music Publishing
“Up Down (Do This All Day)”
Recorded by: T-Pain feat. B.O.B.
Songwriter: Mikely “Mike Free” Adam
Publisher(s): Mike Free Productions, Songs Music Publishing
“24 Hours”
Recorded by: TeeFLii feat. 2 Chainz
Songwriter(s): Mikely “Mike Free” Adam
Publisher(s): Mike Free Productions, Songs Music Publishing
“Best Day of My Life”
Recorded by American Authors
Written by Zac Barnett & James Shelley
Published by Zac Barnett Publishing, James Shelley Publishing, Round Hill Copyrights
“Believer”
Recorded by American Authors
Written by Zac Barnett & James Shelley
Published by Zac Barnett Publishing, James Shelley Publishing, Round Hill Copyrights
“2 On”
Recorded by: Tinashe feat. Schoolboy Q
Songwriter: DJ Marley Waters
Publisher(s): The Write Mindz, Sony ATV Sonata
“Lifestyle”
Recorded by: Rich Gang feat. Rich Homie Quan & Young Thug
Songwriter: London On Da Track
Publisher: London on Da Track Publishing, Universal Tunes
“About The Money”
Recorded by: T.I. feat. Young Thug
Songwriter: London On Da Track
Publisher: London on Da Track Publishing, Universal Tunes
“They Don’t Know”
Recorded by: Rico Love
Songwriter(s): Rico Love, Earl Hood, Eric D. Goudy II aka Ell, Thurston McCrea
Publisher(s): Rico Love Is The Best Rapper Alive, E Hood 66 Music, Grandmas Boy, Thurst McGurst Publishing, W B M Music Corp, Sony ATV Sounds
“Fall In Love”
Recorded by: Phantogram
Songwriter(s): Sarah Barthel, Joshua Carter
Publisher(s): Demarest Barthel Music, Charlie Everywhere Music, RMM 416 Publishing
“It’s About Time”
Recorded by: Young The Giant
Songwriter(s): Sameer Gadhia, Jacob Tilley, Eric Cannata, François Comtois. Payam Doostzadeh
Publisher(s): Mi Fiammetta, Jacob Tilley, EricC Publishing, The Jakes, The Doostzadeh Group, Nettwerk Arias
“Left Hand Free”
Recorded by: Alt-J
Songwriter(s): Joe Newman (PRS), Augustus Unger-Hamilton (PRS), Thomas Green (PRS)
Publisher(s): Kobalt Music Publishing Limited (PRS), Kobalt Group Publishing
“Love More”
Recorded by: Chris Brown feat. Nicki Minaj
Songwriter(s): Darrell “Keyz” Eversley, Howard “Haydock” Eversley, Shaun “SJ” Spearman
Publisher(s): Underclassmen Music, Lost On Campus, No Orientation
