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 yearâÂÂs most consumed songs."
According the magazine: "The music editors at Variety analyze each songâÂÂs merits â including structure, melody/hook, lyrics, cultural relevance and commercial performance â 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." It was also confirmed by the magazine that all data used to decide the Hitmakers, comes from Luminate. The first award was presented in 2017, and the most recent event took place on December 6, 2025.
The next event will take place in 2026.
Annual honorees includes:
The Variety<nowiki/>'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."
The award was first given to Kendrick Lamar in 2017. In 2021, the award was presented as the hitmaker of tomorrow, and went to Jack Harlow. 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". In 2024, Charli XCX was awarded for being "indisputably one of the greatest pop innovators of the 21st century". The most recent winner is Sabrina Carpenter who was named Variety's Hitmaker of 2025 following the commercial success of her seventh studio album, Man's Best Friend, and its lead single "Manchild".
Variety<nowiki/>'s Decade Award recognizes ten years of work of an individual in the music industry. The award was first given to Ellie Goulding who was awarded in 2019 for ten years of "undeniable hits". In 2021, Lana Del Rey became the second artist to be honored with the decade award in recognition to her artistry and influence. In 2024, Jack Antonoff was presented with Variety Producer of the Decade Award in recognition of his ten years of work as a producer. In 2025, American record label, Big Loud was presented with Variety<nowiki/>'s Platinum Decade Award.
Artists
Producers
Labels
Variety<nowiki/>'s Producer of the Year Award was first given to Noah "40" Shebib for his work with Canadian rapper Drake in 2018. The most recent winners are Sounwave, Mustard, and Jack Antonoff for their works with American rapper Kendrick Lamar over the last year.
Awards that have been presented only once so far:
Variety's Mediabase PowerPlaylist Award
Variety's Hitbreaker of the Year Award
Variety's Composer of the Year Award
Variety's TikTok Future Icon Award
Variety's Interactive Music in Media Award
Variety's Music Education and Advocacy Leadership Award
Variety's Trailblazer Award
Variety's Next Gen Award
VarietyâÂÂs International Achievement in Music Award
Variety's Powerhouse of the Year Award
Variety's Anti-Hit Hitmakers of the Year Award
Variety's Living Legend Award
Variety's KPop Demon Hitmakers of the Year Award
Variety's Global Hitmaker of the Year Award
To make their annual Hitmakers list, the VarietyâÂÂs 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 â the people behind the scenes who make and break the hits.