SESAC held its annual Christian Music Awards ceremony Monday in Nashville, Tenn. Jason Ingram was named Christian Songwriter of the Year for 2006 and Wordspring Music (a division of Word Music Publishing) was named Christian Publisher of the Year.

Other SESAC award winners included Tiffany Arbuckle Lee (aka Plumb), Adam Agee of Stellar Kart, Christopher Clonts of Decyfer Down, Krystal Meyers, and NewSong's Michael O'Brien.

Ingram was recognized as the Songwriter of the Year for writing "Shine," which was recorded by Salvador. The single spent an impressive 11 weeks in the top 5 on the Christian singles charts and more than 32 weeks and still counting on the charts overall, according to a press release. Ingram also wrote "I Will Lift My Eyes," which was recorded by Bebo Norman.

Established in 1930, SESAC is a service organization created to assist both the creators of music and music users through timely, efficient royalty collection and music licensing. The second oldest and fastest growing performing rights organization in the U.S., SESAC is headquartered in Nashville, and also has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta and London.

To visit SESAC's Web site, head to: http://www.sesac.com/