The 2023 Music Export Award was awarded to B Publishing Oy, a company started by internationally recognized songwriter Teemu Brunila. The award was presented by the Minister of Science and Culture Sari Multala today in Helsinki.

The Finnish Music Export Award, presented now for the eighth time, is a recognition given to a Finnish music company that has successfully developed and expanded its international operations and has shown pioneering spirit in exporting Finnish music. The intent behind this award is to create attention to the important work done by music export companies, and also promote these active and growing enterprises. The award was initiated by Music Finland, who also gathered the jury together. The award winner receives their own award plate on the outer wall of the famed rock club Tavastia in Helsinki.

In the award jury's justifications, the success of musician, composer, lyricist and music producer Teemu Brunila was characterized, for example, as follows:

"Teemu Brunila is a true pioneer of Finnish song export and a real giant in his own trade. His example shows that both a long-term international career and a unique chart success are possible for a Finnish songwriter. He is a sought-after and respected writer and producer, with whom even the world’s biggest pop stars want to work. Brunila has also brought the know-how and networks that he has gained from the international market to Finland and thus helped the domestic music industry forward. B Publishing, which he founded in 2004, has steadily increased its turnover year after year – in the last five years, the company's turnover has increased almost sixfold."

Teemu Brunila founded B Publishing as a publishing company for his own songs in 2004, when he was still a songwriter and singer in the band The Crash. After the band’s breakup, Brunila wrote his first successful songs for domestic artists such as Jenni Vartiainen and Anna Abreu, but soon made his first contacts with international music publishers at writing camps organized by Music Export Finland (now Music Finland). Brunila's first international songs were released in 2009 and in the following years he ended up writing increasing amounts of music abroad, alongside his significant domestic career. Over the years, Brunila has worked for long periods from, for example, Los Angeles.

Brunila's first international successes included hit songs performed by Flo Rida and David Guetta, for example, and in 2012 he became the first Finn to have an album containing his music (Trey Songz: "Chapter V") reach number one on the Billboard 200 album chart. In 2020, he was one of the main writers of Kylie Minogue's "Disco" album. In recent years, Brunila's most listened to songs worldwide have been, for example, Jason Derulo's Take You Dancing, JP Cooper's September Song, Tiësto and Karol G's Don't Be Shy, and Robin Schulz's Speechless – in total, these four songs have reached around three billion listeners. In total, his songs currently have an audience of around 5.3 billion listeners.

In addition to his own company B Publishing, Brunila has been actively growing the Finnish songwriting and publishing field, for example as a partner in the publishing company Nordic Music Partners.

The jury that selected the awardee included Kimmo Aulake (OKM), Tapio Hakanen (YLE), Tomi Korhonen (Business Finland), Laura Liski (TEM), Mikko Manninen (Music Finland) and Henna Salmela (Fennica Gehrman).