Shaboozey, Benson Boone, Doechii, Daniel Nigro and Amy Allen to Be Honored at Variety’s Hitmakers Event; Jack Antonoff Named Producer of the Decade

Eighth Annual Hitmakers Celebration

Variety has identified the Hitmakers awardees this year in its eighth edition event as it recognizes music industry milestone achievements. As per this year’s sponsored by AFEELA, there will be a focus not only on up-and-coming but also on established names in the music industry who have made a lot of impact within the year, especially the Best New Artist nominees from the Grammy awards.

Of the many prestigious awards given this time around, Antonoff Jack is hailed as receiving the coveted Producer of the Decade award. Other successful artists with such a prestigious duration include Antonoff who has worked ten years with Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey Lorde, Sabrina Carpenter and Kendrick Lamar. Accepting this award is a big milestone achievement as his works have indeed defined the soundtracks of this decade.

This year’s Hitmakers celebration also honors several newcomers who are making waves in the industry:

Shaboozey and Benson Boone are both recipients of the Newcomers Award, presented by AFEELA. Each has made a notable impact this year, signaling strong future potential in their respective musical journeys.
Doechii was awarded the Hip-Hop Disruptor Award for her contribution to the reinvention of the genre which clearly indicates her as a noteworthy artist in the future of hip-hop transformations.
Amy Allen received an award for the “Song of the Year” positioning her as a literal wizard with writing songs permission audiences to feel deeply about them.
Daniel Nigro takes home the Producer of the Year Award, highlighting his influential work in producing standout music that has captivated listeners globally.
Jack Antonoff was given the honor of Producer of the Decade Award and it was for his incredible contribution to changing the music industry within the last ten years.

Gathering of Music Industry Innovators

Music mimics so much of our lives, and this was most evident when talented people made time for one another during the event. Many honorees such as Boone, Doechii, Nigro, Antonoff, Allen, and Shaboozey made quite a number of impressive contributions to modern music as a blend of newcomers and appealing characters in the industry. It is therefore easy to see why Jam of the Year is an indispensable event in honoring those responsible for jazzing the world and achieving what they set out to do as The Hitmakers event does.

The eighth annual “Hitmakers” event held this year by Variety was attended by several new, impressive faces, as the already impressive list of honorees continues to grow. Some of the most recent winners include last year’s winners, including Hitmaker of the Year Charli XCX, Humanitarian of the Year Quavo, Changemaker of the Year Jelly Roll, and Triple Threat Award winner RAYE.

Such events are not only devoted to the winners, whose names are in the spotlight but also to the dear people who work unnoticed by the audience. These are writers, producers, publishers, managers, and executives who were instrumental to the success of the most consumed songs of the year as ranked by Billboard and the Luminate Charts. Variety will have a large section of its website and magazine devoted to the whole range of the winners and their contribution to music during the year being written about.

More Honorees to Be Announced

In a separate announcement, Variety will be presenting further recognitions in the next few days in a promise to appreciate other individuals who made remarkable contributions in the music industry within the Year. Jem Aswad, executive music editor at Variety, reiterated that this year there is an emphasis on rising artists who were already identified to be potential stars even before the Grammy nominations. “There is no better moment than this, to put the spotlight not only on three of the most promising emerging artists of the year but also three of the crucial Hitmakers who, even though they may work from behind the scenes don’t always get the credit but have changed the food of the music landscape today,” Aswad stressed, adding to the enormity of the talent featured this year.

The current Hitmakers function this year’s music event also celebrates the popularity of stars who have been busy making headlines more than once throughout the music charts over the years. Shaboozey and Benson Boone released hits ‘A Bar Song (Tipsy)’ and ‘Beautiful Things’ respectively, with both dominating Luminate singles charts. Also, Doechii has burst onto the scene and is touted as the new big name in hip hop/r&b massive breakthrough artist in the past few years.

Tweet got further context from the industry experts where, Jame Aswad made it clear once again, songwriters and producers responsible for the music and sound of 2021 songs, need to be noticed without much further ado. “Just as importantly,” he introduced, Amy Allen has been credited with writing nearly every song contained in the ‘Short n’ Sweet’ album by Sabrina Carpenter, and she has also worked on some other hits with popular novelists in the likes of Tate McRae Justin Timberlake and Rosé with Bruno Mars.

Producers That Shape the Music Industry

In recent years, great producers have arisen that help shape the sound, vision, and work of many different artists. One such producer is Dan Nigro who was quite active throughout the year and was in the center of the albums of such culture-defining stars as, for example, Chappell Roan or Olivia Rodrigo.
On the other hand, Jack Antonoff’s unique stylistic touch put in many songs over the past decade cannot be ignored either. Being one of the key producers behind Taylor Swift’s ‘1989’, Antonoff has collaborated with a myriad of stars including Sabrina Carpenter, Lana Del Rey, Kendrick Lamar, Lorde, St. Vincent, 1975 and even his own band, the Bleachers. He worked with many of these artists and his vision, within the context of the American pop landscape, perfectly corresponds with the aim of Hitmakers, and that is to make such names known to the general public.

The annual Hitmakers event will come to an end with a special brunch to which only invited guests will be allowed on 7 December in Los Angeles. This event marks the culmination of a series of festivities celebrating the personalities of the industry. This year, the Hitmakers event has key sponsorship from the very notable presenting sponsors such as AFEELA by Sony Honda Mobility, Inc. AFEELA will showcase their prototype vehicle at the event focusing on the mobility of the future. Audiences will be able to see for themselves just how AFEELA’s advanced technology works through exclusive interactive demonstrations that provide an insight into what the company intends to bring to market.

Wells Fargo and Spotify

Evening of the event is then further bolstered by the addition of Wells Fargo as a premier partner for the event and also who played an important role in the activities of the day. Also, increasing its participation in the event is Spotify who will be seen as an official partner as well a Correspondent who will cover the red-carpet event for Spotify. All these activities bring together different aspects in the event where apart from music achievements, the event incorporates technology innovations as well as media coverage into the event.