Photos: Go Inside Variety's Seventh Annual Hitmakers Brunch

Yesterday, December 4, Variety hosted its seventh-annual Hitmakers celebration looking back at the year in music and recognizing the writers, producers, publishers, managers and executives who helped make—and break—the 25 most-consumed songs of the year, as measured by Luminate.

Check out photos from the event below!

Honorees in attendance included Ashley Gorley (Songwriter of the Year), Billie Eilish and FINNEAS (Film Song of the Year: “What Was I Made For”), boygenius (Group of the Year), Eslabon Armado (Collaboration of the Year: “Ella Baila Sola”), Maren Morris (Changemaker of the Year), Mark Ronson (Soundtrack of the Year), Metro Boomin (Producer of the Year), Michael Sticka (Music Education and Advocacy Leadership Award presented by City National Bank), Olivia Rodrigo (Storyteller of the Year), Sabrina Carpenter (Rising Star Award presented by H&M), SZA (Hitmaker of the Year), Terrence "Punch" Henderson (Executive of the Year), Victoria Monét (Triple Threat Award), with presenters Babyface, Denise Colletta, Joan Baez, Maggie Rogers, Ryan Gosling and St. Vincent.

At the event, Sony celebrated the recent launch of “For the Music” by showcasing its 360 Reality Audio immersive music experience with an exclusive listening lounge. “For the Music” focuses on putting creator vision over everything to benefit music fans and empowering artists through its premier audio products and services.

CNB and H&M were premier partners of the event. Distilled from hand-harvested 100% Blue Weber Agave in Los Altos, the Highlands region of Jalisco, Espolòn’s award-winning tequilas were an official partner of Variety Hitmakers. Meta, Nissan Ariya, UMG and Sony Music Publishing were supporting partners.

While presenting the Soundtrack of the Year Award to Mark Ronson, Ryan Gosling said, “Up until six months ago, the entire world gave zero f----s about Ken. He was just this 70-year-old crotchless doll with no house, no car, no job, and no voice, and look at him now! He has a Grammy-nominated power ballad and the voice of an angel. What happened? It’s simple. He met Mark Ronson, and his life changed forever. But he wasn’t the first and he won’t be the last— he’s just the latest in the long line of those who Mark has lent his creativity, generosity and infinite talent to synthesize their essence into music.” 

While onstage accepting the Changemaker of the Year Award, Maren Morris said, “It was in these moments of backlash I endured, I found solace in the stories of my musical heroines. They were brave, oftentimes lonely in their fight, and to the system they were massive pains in the asses. It was then I realized, you have to be a massive pain in the ass to make any kind of change because you’re criticizing and trying to dismantle a status quo and making comfortable people uncomfortable.” Morris continued, “We write the songs. We hold the change that we wish to seek and the tip of our pens, and only we can tell our stories—not anyone else. I love making music and you don’t fight for what you don’t love.”

Onstage while accepting the Storyteller of the Year Award, Olivia Rodrigo said, “Telling stories through songwriting has been my favorite thing to do for as long as I can remember. I write to figure out how I feel, to move through my emotions and to commemorate and honor seasons of my life.” Rodrigo continued, “I’ve always been a big believer in the magic of creativity and I think the more often I show up and discipline my writing the more often I feel ideas come through me.”

While accepting the Rising Star Award presented by H&M onstage, Sabrina Carpenter said, “I really loved getting to know the mindset of a slow rise and knowing that I have a lot to look forward to and no matter how much I experience and how much I have under my belt, I’ll always have something to learn.”

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