Apple Announces Winners of Third Annual Apple Music Awards
Apple has announced the winners of the third annual Apple Music Awards, which recognize "the best artists of 2021 and their influence on global culture."
The awards honor achievements in music across five categories, with winners chosen through a process that reflects both Apple Music's editorial perspective and what customers around the world have been listening to most.
Apple has named The Weeknd as Global Artist of the Year, while Olivia Rodrigo is Breakthrough Artist of the Year. Rodrigo also bagged the Album of the Year award for her debut album, "SOUR," and Single of the Year for "drivers license." The Songwriter of the Year award went to multi-instrumentalist H.E.R. especially in recognition of her 21-track R&B album "Back of My Mind."
This year, the Apple Music Awards also introduces a new category of awards for Regional Artist of the Year, recognizing artists from five countries and regions: Africa, France, Germany, Japan, and Russia. The Regional Artist of the Year awards recognize artists who made the greatest impact culturally and on the charts in their respective countries and regions, according to Apple.
"The past 12 months have proved to be a remarkable year for music, and we're thrilled to honor the artists who are shaping culture and connecting with fans around the world on Apple Music," said Oliver Schusser, Apple's vice president of Apple Music and Beats. "This year we're also recognizing more regional artists, showing the world the impact of extraordinary talented musicians who are making waves globally."
The Apple Music Awards celebration kicks off Tuesday, December 7, 2021, with interviews, original content, and more all streaming worldwide on Apple Music and the Apple TV app. Apple's full article has a more complete list of details on all of the artists that are to be honored with a special Apple-designed award.
Popular Stories
Last year, Apple launched CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. Nearly nine months later, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to Aston Martin's latest luxury vehicles, but that should change fairly soon.
In May 2025, Apple said many other vehicle brands planned to offer CarPlay Ultra, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis.
In his Powe...
Apple today confirmed to Reuters that it has acquired Q.ai, an Israeli startup that is working on artificial intelligence technology for audio.
Apple paid close to $2 billion for Q.ai, according to sources cited by the Financial Times. That would make this Apple's second-biggest acquisition ever, after it paid $3 billion for the popular headphone and audio brand Beats in 2014.
Q.ai has...
The calendar has turned to February, and a new report indicates that Apple's next product launch is "imminent," in the form of new MacBook Pro models.
"All signs point to an imminent launch of next-generation MacBook Pros that retain the current form factor but deliver faster chips," Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said on Sunday. "I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated...
Apple recently updated its online store with a new ordering process for Macs, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro.
There used to be a handful of standard configurations available for each Mac, but now you must configure a Mac entirely from scratch on a feature-by-feature basis. In other words, ordering a new Mac now works much like ordering an...
Apple is planning to launch new MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips alongside macOS 26.3, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
"Apple's faster MacBook Pros are planned for the macOS 26.3 release cycle," wrote Gurman, in his Power On newsletter today.
"I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated for the macOS 26.3 software cycle, which runs from...
