The BMI Foundation has awarded the 2025 Charlie Feldman Award to Miami-based singer-songwriter Carlos Neda, recognizing his distinctive voice, emotional songwriting, and steadily rising career. Established in 2021, the Charlie Feldman Award honors an emerging BMI songwriter in any genre and includes an annual $2,000 prize.
For Neda, the recognition arrives at a meaningful turning point. Born in Miami and raised in El Salvador during one of the country’s most violent periods, he began writing poetry as a child as a way to process the instability around him. When he returned to Miami as a teenager, those poems evolved into songs—marking the start of a creative path rooted in honesty and lived experience.
As a young adult, Neda took his music on the road in the most literal way possible, traveling to more than 90 cities worldwide while busking and sustaining himself with nothing but his voice and guitar. That grassroots grind helped shape a songwriter whose work feels intimate yet globally resonant. His debut single, “Sin complejos de Disney,” struck a chord well beyond the street corner, reaching No. 4 on Spotify’s Viral Mexico chart and introducing his storytelling to a much wider audience.
Neda is currently preparing to release his first studio EP, PARA CAÍDAS, a project that reflects both his journey and his growth as a writer. Upon receiving the award, he expressed deep gratitude for the recognition and what it represents at this stage in his career.
“La verdad es que es un honor recibir este premio de BMI Foundation,” Neda shared. “Para mí es un honor representar a El Salvador y poder estar aquí con ese reconocimiento después de siete años de carrera… Este reconocimiento me da mucho orgullo y muchas ganas de continuar.”
(“It’s truly an honor to receive this award from the BMI Foundation. It’s an honor to represent El Salvador and to be here receiving this recognition after seven years of my career… This award fills me with pride and motivates me to continue.”)
The Charlie Feldman Award was created in honor of longtime BMI executive Charlie Feldman, a tireless advocate for songwriters during his 31-year tenure with the organization. Feldman played a key role in supporting and developing the careers of artists including Carole King, James Brown, Rihanna, Nile Rodgers, Gregg Allman, and many others. The award is supported by his friends and colleagues across the music industry and continues his legacy of championing creative voices.
For Carlos Neda, the honor not only recognizes the road he has traveled, but also signals what lies ahead as his catalog continues to grow and reach new audiences.
