Aleksi Kiiskinen received the Export Award at the Finnish Music Publishers Association’s 50th anniversary gala, held in Helsinki on September 10. Other winners included composer Markku Klami and rock legend Mr. Lordi.

This year's "Export award" recognizes Aleksi Kiiskinen’s contribution to James Marriott’s album Don’t Tell The Dog. Kiiskinen served as the album’s lead producer, helping create an album that topped the UK Official Albums Chart in June 2025. The album’s tracks have amassed more than 44 million streams on Spotify alone. The album also features several Finnish musicians.

This year’s Honorary Award was presented to Mr. Lordi, a songwriter and visionary whose work extends from songwriting to creating an entire international music phenomenon. He has composed and written lyrics for hundreds of songs and created the unique world of the band Lordi, bringing Finnish music to audiences around the globe. His unwavering belief in his own artistic vision reached its pinnacle in 2006, when “Hard Rock Hallelujah” brought Finland its first — and to date only — Eurovision Song Contest victory.

The "Contemporary Composer of the Year" category was again divided between large-scale and small-scale works. In the large-scale works’ category, composer Markku Klami was awarded for his work “Violin Concerto: Requiem” (published by Edition Wilhelm Hansen). In the small-scale works’ category, Matthew Whittall won the award for his work “The World Tree” (published by Fennica Gehrman).

The Open Category Award was presented to Antti Paalanen and the team behind the album Haitarimarinadi. The internationally acclaimed composer, accordionist and throat singer expands his artistic expression on the album by also taking on the role of lyricist. The album brought together a diverse team of collaborators, including Heidi Maria Paalanen, Saara Törmä, Jarkko Meretniemi and Lauri Halavaara. Haitarimarinadi uniquely combines Paalanen’s internationally recognized musical style with a strong focus on songwriting. Throughout his career, Paalanen has performed extensively around the world, from Europe and North America to Japan and China.

This year’s Song of the Year was awarded to “Liekinheitin,” which represented Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest. At the awards ceremony, held at Helsinki’s historic Valkoinen Sali, the award was accepted by songwriters Vilma Lähteenmäki, Antti Riihimäki and Lauri Halavaara. The "Breakthrough of the Year” award went to Jaakko Kiuru, and the “Pop Music Maker of the Year” award was presented to music producer Wille Mannila.

The Young Creators Grants are awarded annually to promising Finnish songwriters or composers in recognition of exceptional talent, dedicated work, and significant potential for the future. This year, the Young Creators Grants were awarded to songwriter Olivia Ainali and composer Robert Ruohola.

The aim of the Finnish Music Publishers awards is to highlight individual published works, composers and songwriters, and to promote the recognition and appreciation of music publishing.