ASCAP Pop Awards Honor ‘Stay’ as Song of the Year, Dr. Luke as Most Played Songwriter, Sony Music as Top Publisher
Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The ASCAP Pop Music Awards honored “Stay,” by the Kid Laroi featuring Justin Bieber, as the org’s pop music song of the year Thursday night. That number came out on top as the performing rights organization calculated the most-played affiliated songs of the past 12 months, with results for the 40th annual awards revealed at a private party held for members at Yamashiro in Hollywood. The org’s interest in “Stay” is via ASCAP member Bieber, one of the co-writers on the smash. The song spent seven weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 in mid-2022. Dr. Luke was named the songwriter of the year, largely for his participation in hits that have continued to do well off Doja Cat’s 2021 album “Planet Her,” primarily “Need to Know,” “Woman” and “You Right.” The success of Latto’s “High Energy” and Nicki Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl” also contributed to the producer-writer achieving the highest number of plays for the year.