The Video Music Awards included online and virtual performances.
This is the first year of the award, and it has nominations for six different acts.
A new sub-category of the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) was introduced in 2022. “Best Metaverse Performance” is a category open to artists vying for recognition. The ceremony was first held in 1984 to honor excellence in the field of music videos. Several well-known musicians have won Video Music Awards before, including Madonna, Nirvana, and Kanye West.
Video of the Year, Artist of the Year, and Song of the Year are all typical award categories, but this year they have a Web3 spin. The Video Music Awards included online and virtual performances for the first time ever.
Metaverse Popularity on the Rise
This is the first year of the award, and it has nominations for six different acts. Some examples include Ariana Grande’s “Rift Tour” (Fortnite), Blackpink’s “The Virtual” (PUBG Mobile), BTS (YouTube), Charli XCX (Roblox), “Justin Bieber — An Interactive Virtual Experience” (Wave), and “Twenty One Pilots Concert Experience” (Roblox).
On August 12, the awards presentation revealed it’s first-ever Metaverse experience, in addition to a new category of awards. The VMA Experience, created by Paramount Game Studios and accessible in the Roblox metaverse until September 3, was published last week.
Roblox is a popular virtual world that often hosts concerts, festivals, and other pop culture events. Two acts from the platform are nominated this year. Insomniac, a leading organizer of electronic dance music festivals, teamed with it last year to host simulated events in its metaverse.
After five years of falling VMA views, this year’s metaverse category was introduced. MTV’s decision to integrate virtual performance may help it stay relevant as the metaverse grows and attracts younger listeners.