MTV Launches ‘Best Metaverse Performance’ Award Category

• The MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) have added a new category for metaverse performances.
• The nominated artists for the award include Ariana Grande, BTS, Justin Bieber, Charli XCX, Blackpink, and Twenty One Pilots.
• This inclusivity may spark more virtual performances in the future.

The MTV Video Music Awards or VMAs 2022 announced on Twitter the addition of a new category awarding metaverse performances. Titled “Best Metaverse Performace,” it is a fresh Web 3.0 twist on the classic award categories “Video of the Year,” “Artist of the Year,” and “Song of the Year.”

Began in 1984, the VMAs is an acclaimed recognition in the music video genre and have awarded numerous celebrated music artists, including Nirvana, Madonna, Beyonce, Rihanna, and many more.

With this year’s inclusion of the new metaverse section, nominations include “the Rift Tour,” featuring Ariana Grande (Fortnite), Blackpink’s “The Virtual” (PUBG Mobile), BTS (YouTube), Charli XCX (Roblox), “Justin Bieber — An Interactive Virtual Experience” (Wave) and the “Twenty One Pilots Concert Experience” (Roblox).

Apart from this new category addition, the VMAs have also announced their first-ever metaverse event, The VMA Experience by Paramount Game Studios in the Roblox metaverse, available till September 3, 2022.

Roblox is very active when it comes to creating virtual festivals and concerts, partnering with major artists, as it did last year with electronic dance music festival producer Insomniac to host a pop culture event in the metaverse. They are also nominated for two metaverse performances in the VMAs.

According to MTV, the move aims to reach younger audiences and stay up to date with the youth. With artists constantly releasing new music tracks as NFTs and using blockchain to license singles, the music industry is looking at a more web3.0 integrated future trajectory.