The Finnish Music Publishers Association has given their yearly awards today for the eighth time. Among the winners divided into five different categories was Ann Slangar, CEO of Sugar House Publishing, who was presented with the Export Award.

Sugar House Publishing, co-founded by the awarded CEO Ann Slangar in 2004, has enabled a long career in the international field for their songwriters.

The company has invested especially in song exports to the Asian market, and the songwriters it represents have co-written over 50 chart-topping hits in Japan as well as 10 global number ones. Of these, Janne Hyöty, Victor Sågfors and Christian Jansson have each risen to the top ten of Finnish songwriters in recent statistics in terms of the number of international cuts.

The Export Award winner is justified as follows: Ann Slangar’s work is an example of how, with a bold and unyielding attitude, a small company can grow into a significant player in its international target market.

Today, Sugar House has several sub-publishers in Japan as well as South Korea, and recently the company has also built its network in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. Indeed, around 95 percent of Sugar House Publishing's revenue comes from abroad, mostly from Asia. In addition, Ann Slangar has played a strong role in developing the music publishing field in Finland. The candidates for the Export Award were selected by Music Finland.

Finnish Music Publishers Award winners were:

- Pop music writer of the year: Janne Rintala (Mökkitie)
- Song of the year: Viimeinen elämä (writers Maija Vilkkumaa and Kaisa Korhonen, performed by Maija Vilkkumaa) (voter Deputy Mayor Nasima Razmyar)
- Breakthrough of the year: Rollot (Iiro Paakkari and Arttu Istala)
- Contemporary Composer of the Year: Ilkka Kuusisto
- Genre-free category winner: Mikko “Pantse” Syrjä