The third Apple Music Awards are now officially known, recognizing the best artists of 2021 and their influence on global culture as chosen by Apple’s editorial team.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Apple Music Awards honor achievements in music across five categories
- This year, Apple gave five new Regional Artist of the Year awards
- The Apple Music Awards celebration kicks off December 7
Check out the 2021 Apple Music Awards winners
Canada’s prolific singer, songwriter and producer Weeknd took home the Global Artist of the Year award, with Apple writing the following in a post on Apple Newsroom.
Filtering R&B and pop through an ambitious widescreen lens, The Weeknd took over popular music and culture on his own terms. The global superstar’s 2020 album “After Hours” quickly surpassed one million pre-adds on Apple Music, and is the most pre-added album of all time by a male artist on the platform. “After Hours” also holds the record for the most streamed R&B/Soul album in its first week in 73 countries. The smash single “Blinding Lights” peaked at No. 1 on Apple Music’s Daily Top 100: Global chart, and ranks as one of the 20 most Shazamed songs of all time.
Meanwhile, Olivia Rodrigo won Breakthrough Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, as well as Song of the Year. Songwriter of the Year is H.E.R. The company explained that its process for picking the winners includes both Apple Music’s editorial perspective and what customers are listening to the most.
This time around, however, the Artist of the Year award is separately honored in Africa, France, Germany, Japan and Russia. These regional awards “recognize artists who made the greatest impact culturally and on the charts in their respective countries and regions,“ the company says.
When’s the 2021 Apple Music Awards celebration taking place?
Apple has acknowledged that the official Apple Music Awards celebration kicks off Tuesday, December 7. The show will stream globally on Apple Music and via the company’s TV app, featuring interviews, original content and more. Apple presented the winners with a physical award featuring Apple’s custom silicon wafer suspended between a polished sheet of glass and a machined and anodized aluminum body.
The result of this multi-month process, before it is sliced into hundreds of individual chips, is stunning and distinctive. In a symbolic gesture, the same chips that power the devices that put the world’s music at listeners’ fingertips sit at the very heart of the Apple Music Awards.
These aren’t the only annual content charts Apple published today.
What are the most popular podcasts of 2021?
Aside from the Apple Music Best of 2021 charts, the Cupertino company also shared similar ones highlighting the most popular shows, episodes and creators of 2021 on Apple Podcasts. You can browse these charts at apple.co/podcasts