Kanye West will be honoured for his record-breaking streams for The Life of Pablo (TLOP) with a Special Achievement Award for Webby Artist of the Year.

TLOP was streamed 250 million times in 10 days after it was released exclusively on Jay Z’s streaming service Tidal and became the first number one album on the Billboard 200 chart where more than half its units were generated by streaming.

Actress Krysten Ritter will also be presented with the Special Achievement Award for Webby Best Actress for her role as former superhero Jessica Jones on the Netflix drama Marvel’s Jessica Jones, one of the most-watched series on the popular streaming platform.

“Every year, the Academy recognises exceptional Webby Awards Winners who have played a significant role in shaping our broader internet culture,” said David-Michel Davies, executive director of the Webby Awards.

Kanye West
(Clint Spaulding/AP/PA)

“Kanye West and Krysten Ritter are two standouts who have successfully leveraged the immense influence and addictive elements of streaming media to drive innovation on the internet.”

The Webby Awards are the leading international awards honouring excellence on the internet and were launched in 1996. The awards were described by The New York Times as “the internet’s highest honour”.

Kanye and Krysten are due to attend the event at Cipriani Wall Street on May 16. The full show will be available to stream on demand on The Webby Awards website the next morning.