Daft Punk hit Get Lucky has been named "song of the year" at an annual awards event celebrating songwriters for their airplay prowess.

It beat tracks composed by the likes of Ed Sheeran, Ellie Goulding and Emeli Sande to take the prize at the BMI Awards in London for being the most performed song on US radio and television in the past 12 months which is registered with the royalties body.

Lyricist Sir Tim Rice was given the "Icon" award at the ceremony, staged at the Dorchester Hotel, for his "unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers".

Sir Tim - whose hits have included Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar and Chess - follows past winners such as John Lydon, Queen and Bryan Ferry.

Goulding was honoured for stacking up huge airplay with tracks such as Burn, and British songwriter Sacha Skarbek - who co-wrote James Blunt hit You're Beautiful as well as Engelbert Humperdinck's Eurovision flop Love Will Set You Free - was rewarded for his work on Miley Cyrus track Wrecking Ball.

Van Morrison received an award for his enduring song Brown Eyed Girl - which has now achieved more than 11 million plays in the US