New York, NY (Top40 Charts) On December 3rd, Variety hosted its sixth-annual Hitmakers celebration looking back at the year in music and recognizing the writers, producers, publishers, managers and executives who helped make-and break-the 25 most-consumed songs of the year, as measured by Luminate. Hosted by DJ Cassidy, honorees in attendance included
Dua Lipa (Hitmaker of the Year),
Imagine Dragons (Group of the Year), Kim Petras (Innovator of the Year),
Omar Apollo (TikTok
Future Icon Award) and
Selena Gomez (Film Song of the Year) with presenters H.E.R.,
Jack Harlow and Rita Wilson.
TikTok, IHG Hotels & Resorts and Luminate were premier partners of the event. With Variety, TikTok presented a
Future Icon award to newly GRAMMY-nominated Best New Artist Omar Apollo. IHG Hotels & Resorts returned to Hitmakers for the second year and helped brew up a fantastic morning with a craft espresso bar and delicious drinks and talent was able to "Guest like we Guest" with IHG-branded cups. Luminate's CEO Rob Jonas presented the Breakthrough Artist Award at the event. This year's honoree was
Latto for her hit single "Big Energy."
Dave Free, co-founder of pgLang, received the first ever Creativity & Impact Award for his work in helping shape culture and community through music and film, namely his work directing Cash App's "That's Money" campaign featuring Kendrick Lamar, Ray Dalio, and EXAVIER TV. Before every show on Lamar's The Big Steppers Tour, the "That's Money" spot played on screens for the arena audiences.
Jack Harlow while presenting the Label of the Year Award to Atlantic Records said, " I see a lot of strained relationships between artists and labels, especially in hip hop for various reasons - but I do see a lot of resentment sometimes between artists and their labels. For me personally, I've had disagreements, frustrations, things that I think are naturally within a partnership, but one thing I cannot dispute is that I was given a real chance to develop as an artist. As [Atlantic Records'] new discovery, I was given an incredible team - some of them are present today. I was given a chance to drop mix tapes that made no money. I was given the chance to drop songs I thought were hits and they weren't. And I think we know not every artist was blessed with that type of time, so thank you."
Dua Lipa while accepting the Hitmaker of the Year Award said, "This whole experience with the song ("Cold
Heart (PNAU Remix)") has really taken me back to when I first started in the business. I had such big dreams for this year and this career but I never thought that my job would ever take me to a place where I'd be able to get up on stage with Elton at Dodger Stadium and perform a song that means so much to me - a mashup of songs that I've grown up with that have always inspired me. I guess it kind of took me back to little me where I really believed that anything and everything was possible."
Omar Apollo while accepting the TikTok
Future Icon Award said, "It's funny to be recognized as a future icon because there was a point in time in life where I didn't think I had a future. Honestly, I've never thought of myself in that way but - we here!"
After an impromptu performance of Naughty By Nature's "Hip Hop Hooray" onstage, Rita Wilson presented Kara DioGuardi with the A&R Award and said, "She (Kara DioGuardi) taught me that songwriting is craft meeting personal experience, to go all in, to hold nothing back, to take chances, to be brave. She taught me to use all those deep feelings and truths that you never want to expose."
