Apple Music, Spotify Launching Award Shows


Wednesday, December 4th, 2019 |

Apple Music & Spotify have launched award shows. Dubbed the Apple Music Awards and the Spotify Awards, they will look to highlight achievement in music this past year, but in slightly different ways. Let’s look at how the award shows are different and what is going to happen with them.

Apple Music Awards:

The California firm will choose winners for their award show in five categories: Global Artist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, Breakthrough Artist of the Year, Album of the Year and Song of the Year.

The editorial team chooses the first three, while album and song of the year are based on streaming data over the past year.

Some of the categories have already been chosen. Billie Eilish is their Artist of the Year and will perform at the Steve Jobs Theater on December 4 at 6:30 p.m. PST. The event will be streamed globally. Songwriter Of The Year was awarded to Eilish and her brother / co-songwriter / producer Finneas on her album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?,  which won album of the year. Breakthrough Artist Of The Year is Lizzo and the Song Of The Year is Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road.”

Spotify Awards:

Last month Spotify announced its Spotify Awards that will take place in Mexico City on March 5, 2020. The winners will be based on user-generated data, regardless of the genre. “Your plays, patterns, and habits will help determine the award categories, finalists, and winners,” explains the company. It will be based 100% on streams. The winners and categories have not been revealed yet, but looking at data from this past year, some of the staples like Post Malone and Ariana Grande should do well.


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Having only missed the very first year of WMC in 1985, it was 1986-1990 that initially placed me on the map globally due to the international attendance of the entire dance music community. All throughout the 90s I was often getting written about by various high profile mags and websites for having contributed to help break many artists, DJs, producers and remixers. WMC enabled me to bring many top industry people together all under one roof, especially at Groove Jet, where house music officially met Techno in my sets and it’s all been uphill since…TBC


Danny Tenaglia

DJ, Producer

Before there was Ultra Music Festival, there was The Winter Music Conference, the annual coming together of the dance music tribes. Miami in March is a fundamental place to be from a business perspective, and has always given me endless opportunities for discovering new partnerships and talent. WMC brings together the dance music industry and surrounding culture like no other event in America. I’ve been attending WMC for nearly 20 years, and I’m very much looking forward to experiencing its evolution in 2019.


Matt Colon

Director, North America - YM&U Music

WMC is and has always been the lifeblood of the dance music scene. Never missed a year since ’96, I can’t imagine Amsterdam Dance Event or Ibiza Music Summit existing without the blueprint that WMC originated. Seeing this revived is absolutely essential to reunifying the North American scene surrounding electronic music and its fringes.


Tommie Sunshine

Producer/DJ/Activist/Netflix Host

I feel fortunate to have been part of the first-ever WMC. Over the 35 years, it has grown to give us an international forum where we exchange music and ideas. As an attendee and host of many of the award shows, I am proud each time I see new young talent emerge and then become world-renowned. We all have so many Winter Music Conference moments of hearing a seminal breakthrough record for the first time as well as a new DJ with star quality. Magical moments in my career.


Daniel Glass

Glassnote Records

I first went to WMC ’87, the year I started Big Beat. It was an incredibly inspiring congregation of indie labels, DJs, artists, songwriters, producers and dance music lovers dedicated to breaking and discovering new music. WMC has been instrumental in furthering the dance and electronic cause; keeping the community connected, vital and relevant, and serving as an amazing springboard for talent. It’s a fantastic crucible for the future of dance music. Long may it live.


Craig Kallman

CEO & Co-Chairman Atlantic Records, Founder Big Beat Records