TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Sept. 9, 2013) - ole, one of the world's foremost rights management companies, has been honored by the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) as Music Publisher of the Year for the 7th consecutive time. This unprecedented achievement for an independent company comes just a few weeks before ole celebrates its 9th anniversary on September 28. It's the longest successful run by an independent publisher in the history of that category at the CCMA Awards.

The honor was made all the more sweet as ole writer Gord Bamford was named Songwriter of the Year for his single "Leaning On A Lonesome Song," a co-write with Buddy Owens and Ray Stephenson, which was a #1 song for Bamford in Europe.

This year, ole writers, including Gord Bamford, Dean Brody (Roots Three/ole) and Johnny Reid dominated the winner's circle as part of eight ole direct and affiliated awards. ole writers were also very much in evidence on the live show. Gord Bamford introduced his new single, "When Your Lips Are So Close" and Dean Brody performed his latest song release, "Bounty," with fellow ole writer and Last Gang Records artist Lindi Ortega. ole legacy writer Tebey, one of the tunesmiths behind the international success of British boy band One Direction, gave the audience a taste of his country side as an artist with "Somewhere In the Country," one of the most added songs on Canadian Country radio last fall.

ole writer Gord Bamford was the night's big winner overall picking up five awards in the categories of Songwriter of the Year ("Leaning On A Lonesome Song"), Album of the Year (Is It Friday Yet?), Single of the Year ("Leaning On A Lonesome Song"), CMT Video of the Year ("Leaning On A Lonesome Song") and Record Producer of the Year, with Byron Hill, for the self-titled album by The Boom Chucka Boys. ole writer Johnny Reid took the award for Top-Selling Canadian Album (Fire It Up) and Roots Three/ole writer Dean Brody was named Male Artist of the Year.

"ole is pleased to receive this honour from our peers in the CCMA for the 7th year in a row," states CEO Robert Ott. "We remain passionate about great songs, songwriters and Country music on both sides of the border."

For the 9th year, ole hosted Saloon Jam, the exclusive, invite-only post CCMA Awards celebration, which has become a popular Canadian Country Music Week tradition. Among those who dropped by to play some tunes were Hunter Hayes, ole writers Gord Bamford and Lindi Ortega and Emerson Drive. This year, the Jam was emceed by fast-rising country singer and songwriter Brett Kissel, who recently eclipsed Taylor Swift's milestone record at Canadian country radio for most adds in one week with his debut single, "Started With A Song," the title track of his forthcoming album for Warner Music Canada.

CCMA Discovery Award winner Wes Mack was one of the many artists who dropped by the ole Bus, which was in Edmonton for Country Music Week, in search of their next hit as part of ole's Songshop.

The 2013 CCMA Awards were broadcast live from Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta on the evening of Sunday, September 8 on CBC-TV with encore airings on CMT (Canada).