Apple announces third annual Apple Music Award winners including The Weeknd

What you need to know

• Apple has announced the third annual Apple Music award winners.
• The Weeknd picked up Global Artist of the Year.

The Apple Music Awards celebration kicks off Tuesday, December 7.

Apple Music has announced the winners of its third annual Apple Music Awards, with The Weeknd picking up the title of Global Artist of the Year. The Apple Music Awards celebrations kick off on Tuesday, December 7, with interviews and more streaming in the Apple Music and Apple TV apps.

Apple made the announcements via Newsroom release, noting that the awards "honor achievements in music across five distinct categories." Artist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, Breakthrough Artist of the Year, Top Song of the Year, and Top Album of the Year are all covered, and "winners are chosen through a process that reflects both Apple Music's editorial perspective and what customers around the world are listening to the most."

There's a new regional award, too.

This year, the Apple Music Awards will introduce 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.

The full rundown of winners reads:

• Global Artist of the Year: The Weeknd
• Breakthrough Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, and Song of the Year: Olivia Rodrigo
• Songwriter of the Year: H.E.R.
• Artist of the Year (Africa): Wizkid
• Artist of the Year (France): Aya Nakamura
• Artist of the Year (Germany): RIN
• Artist of the Year (Japan): OFFICIAL HIGE DANDISM
• Artist of the Year (Russia): Scriptonite

Apple Music is more than just the best iPhone music-listening experience these days — it's a whole business within Apple, with these awards showing how deeply Apple Music feels about the industry it's in. You can read more about the awards in the full Newsroom post, while a ton of celebratory content will be available to stream in early December.