SAM SMITH, George Ezra and Clean Bandit are in the running for the prize for the most played song of the past year at The Ivor Novello songwriting awards.

    The most performed work category sees Smith’s hit “Stay With Me” nominated alongside Ezra’s “Budapest” and “Rather Be” by Clean Bandit.

    The annual awards, now in their 60th year, are voted for by songwriters.

    Little-known songwriter James Napier leads the nominations after co-writing both “Stay With Me” and “Rather Be.”

    The latter, which Napier wrote with Clean Bandit’s Jack Patterson, is also shortlisted for best contemporary song.

    Known as Jimmy Napes, the hitmaker said his three nominations were “a tremendous honor.”

    Napier’s nomination for “Stay With Me” sees him listed alongside Smith and fellow writer William Phillips.

    However, there is no room for veteran musicians Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne, who were given a writing credit on “Stay With Me” in January because of similarities with their 1989 track “I Won’t Back Down.”

    Under rules set by the British Society of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (Basca), Lynne and Petty are not eligible because they each received less than 15 percent of the writing credit.

    Speaking after the nominations, Napier said he and his co-writers had not heard “I Won’t Back Down” before Petty and Lynne approached them.

    “We were unfamiliar with the song and when it was brought to our attention we had to hold our hands up because there was a similarity in the melody,” he told the BBC.

    “It was amicably settled but it was a bit of a shock to us because we didn’t know the record.”

    The winners will be named at a ceremony in London on May 21. (SD-Agencies)