Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter were among the biggest winners at the 2026 BMI Pop Awards, as the annual ceremony honored the year’s most-performed songs and songwriters in Beverly Hills on May 12. Held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, the private event celebrated pop’s commercial and creative powerhouses while also recognizing legendary songwriter Paul Anka with BMI’s highest honor, the BMI Icon Award.
Swift secured her third consecutive BMI Pop Songwriter of the Year title and the sixth of her career, extending one of the most dominant songwriting runs in modern pop history. Sabrina Carpenter shared the award for the first time, marking a major career milestone after a breakout year fueled by Short n’ Sweet-era success and a string of streaming hits.
BMI confirmed that Swift earned the honor for writing six of the most-performed songs in the United States over the past year: “But Daddy I Love Him,” “Florida!!!,” “Guilty as Sin?,” “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys,” “So Long, London,” and “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.” The latest victory pushes her total to 53 BMI Pop Awards, adding to the BMI President’s Award she received in 2009 and the BMI Taylor Swift Award established in her honor in 2016.
Carpenter’s rise at the ceremony reflected her explosive commercial growth throughout the past 12 months. BMI recognized “Bed Chem,” “Busy Woman,” “Good Graces,” “Juno,” “Manchild,” and “Taste” among the year’s most-performed songs, bringing her career total to 11 BMI Awards. In a pre-recorded acceptance message, Carpenter reflected on the role songwriting continues to play in her life.
“I feel so privileged because storytelling is one of my favorite things and has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember,” she said. “Songwriting is sort of like being in a relationship that continues to charm you and surprise you and humble you.”
Elsewhere during the ceremony, Kendrick Lamar’s “luther” featuring SZA earned BMI Pop Song of the Year.
Sony Music Publishing was named Publisher of the Year after representing 24 of the year’s top-performing songs, including Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra,” Rosé and Bruno Mars’ “APT,” and Gigi Perez’s “Sailor Song.”
The ceremony also highlighted a new generation of pop songwriters entering the mainstream. Addison Rae received recognition for “Diet Pepsi,” while Ravyn Lenae, sombr, Gigi Perez, and Alex Warren collaborators Mags Duval, Cal Shapiro, and Adam Yaron were among 32 first-time BMI Pop Award winners.
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