Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, and BTS from K-Pop.
The list of competition categories for the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) now includes a new category. Artists can vie for a coveted prize this year in the "Best Metaverse Performance" category. The awards ceremony originally debuted in 1984 as a prestigious way to recognise excellence in music videos. Famous musicians who have won VMAs in the past include Madonna, Nirvana, and Kanye West.
The traditional award categories for "Video of the Year," "Artist of the Year," and "Song of the Year" have a Web3 twist this year. The VMAs recognised performances in the Metaverse and created a new award category.
Six acts are nominated for nomination in its first year. Included in this are "the Rift Tour," which comprises Blackpink's "The Virtual" (PUBG Mobile), Charli XCX (Roblox), BTS (YouTube), Charli XCX (Roblox), "Justin Bieber — An Interactive Virtual Experience" (Wave), and the "Twenty One Pilots Concert Experience" (Roblox).
On August 12, the award ceremony unveiled a new award category as well as its first-ever Metaverse experience. Paramount Game Studios debuted The VMA Experience last week in the Roblox metaverse. It is accessible until September 3 of this year.
Roblox, a virtual environment that is quite active with pop culture events like concerts and festivals, has two performances up for consideration. It worked with Insomniac, a big festival producer of electronic dance music, to create digital festivals inside of its metaverse last year.
After five years of declining viewership, this year's VMAs added the metaverse category. The choice made by MTV to include virtual performances may help it stay relevant as the metaverse expands and attracts younger audiences.
The music industry has been on a trajectory of digital consumption since the introduction of music streaming services, and Web3 integrations are everywhere. Artists are releasing songs as nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, which are now recognised on international charts, while others are using blockchain to improve music licencing.
