| Variety's Hitmakers Awards | |
|---|---|
| Most recent: 8th Variety Hitmakers Awards | |
| Awarded for | the year’s most consumed songs |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Variety |
| First award | 2017 |
| Website | variety |
The Variety Hitmakers Awards is an annual event held by Variety. It is the publication's first music franchise, according to the magazine, it was established to recognize "the artists, labels, executives, producers, publishers, sound mixers, engineers, managers and marketing mavens behind the year’s most consumed songs."[1][2][3]
According the magazine: "The music editors at Variety analyze each song’s merits — including structure, melody/hook, lyrics, cultural relevance and commercial performance — and dissect who played a role in bringing the song to life, from idea to writing to production to execution and out to the marketplace."[4] It was also confirmed by the magazine that all data used to decide the Hitmakers, comes from Luminate.[5] The first award was presented in 2017,[1] and the most recent event took place in 2024.[6]
Annual honorees includes:
The Variety's Hitmaker of the Year Award goes to an artist that had significant recognition through the year thanks to their role as a producer, writer, or performance on "highly successful songs and albums that chart well and gain widespread recognition."[7] The award was first given to Kendrick Lamar in 2017.[8] In 2021, the award was presented as the hitmaker of tomorrow, and went to Jack Harlow.[9] In 2022, the award was presented to more than one artist with Elton John and Dua Lipa both getting recognition for their collaborative hit single "Cold Heart".[10] The most recent winner is Charli xcx who was named Variety's Hitmaker of 2024 for being "indisputably one of the greatest pop innovators of the 21st century."[7]
Variety's Decade Award recognizes ten years of a musician work in the music industry. The award was first given to Ellie Goulding who was awarded in 2019 for ten years of "undeniable hits".[16] In 2021, Lana Del Rey became the second artist to be honored with the decade award in recognition to her artistry and influence.[17] In 2024, Jack Antonoff was presented with Variety's Producer of the Decade Award in recognition of his ten years of work as a producer.[6]
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Variety's Producer of the Year Award was first given to Noah "40" Shebib for his work with Canadian rapper Drake in 2018.[20] The most recent winner is Daniel Nigro who was honored for being "the key collaborator in the albums by two of the year’s most culture-shifting artists" referencing to his work on Olivia Rodrigo's Guts and Chappell Roan's The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess in 2024.
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Awards that have been presented only once so far:
To make their annual Hitmakers list, the Variety’s editors, use BuzzAngle data for the most-consumed songs of year, based on audio sales and streams, video plays, radio spins and Shazam tags. The editors then conferred with top executives and creatives from across the music business to find the players whose input was most vital to those songs. They included songwriters, producers, publishers, A&R and promotion executives, along with managers and key influencers — the people behind the scenes who make and break the hits.
| Variety's 2017 Hitmakers[97] | Variety's 2018 Hitmakers[98] | Variety's 2019 Hitmakers[99] | ||||||
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| Variety's Hitmakers 2020[100] | Variety's Hitmakers 2021[101] | Variety's Hitmakers 2022[102] | ||||||
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| Variety's Hitmakers 2023 | Variety's Hitmakers 2024 | Variety's Hitmakers 2025 | ||||||
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