apple designed a series of custom trophies to award winners at its first-ever apple music awards to be held on wednesday (december 4th). the awards, which echo the same visual language used in its line of products, are made from silicon discs, symbolizing the technology that powers apple devices.

apple designs custom trophy with 12-inch silicon wafer for first-ever music awards

images courtesy of apple

 

 

in a symbolic gesture, the same chips which power the devices that put the world’s music at your fingertips sit at the very heart of the apple music awards. each award features apple’s custom silicon wafer suspended between a polished sheet of glass and a machined and anodized aluminum body.

 

the wafers start as a perfect 12-inch disc of silicon with nanometer-level flatness. copper layers are deposited and patterned by ultraviolet lithography to create connections between billions of transistors. the result of this multi-month process, before it is sliced into hundreds of individual chips, is stunning and distinctive. 

apple designs custom trophy with 12-inch silicon wafer for first-ever music awards

 

 

the first apple music awards will take place in the steve jobs theater in cupertino, the same spot in which the company’s keynotes are held. winner of global artist of the year, billie eilish, headlined the event which also included a concert of other artists.

 

 

according to apple, the winners for global artist of the year, songwriter of the year, and breakthrough artist were chosen by apple music’s editorial team, while album and song of the year were chosen based on streaming data on the service.

apple designs custom trophy with 12-inch silicon wafer for first-ever music awards

 

 

breakthrough artist of the year went to lizzo, for ‘cuz I love you,’ while the first song of the year is ‘old town road’ by lil nas X, the service’s most-streamed track this year. eilish also won the album of the year and the songwriter of the year awards, for ‘when we all fall asleep, where do we go?‘, apple music’s most-played album of the year, with more than a billion streams.

 

‘the apple music awards are designed to recognize the passion, energy and creativity of the world’s favorite artists,’ said oliver schusser, vice president of apple music and international content, in its press release. ‘the musically diverse group of inaugural winners have sparked deep social conversation, influenced culture and inspired our customers around the world. we couldn’t be more excited to celebrate them.’

 

the apple music awards will be streamed live on december 4 at 6:30PM pacific standard time.