The VMAs are making it clear that metaverse musical performances deserve more recognition with an all-new category this year.
MTV’s Video Music Awards (VMAs) are crashing the gates of Web3 with a new award category set to debut in August at the 2022 edition of the annual music video showcase. Nominations for the awards show dropped on Tuesday officially introducing a new category called Best Metaverse Performance.
One lucky artist will receive a Moon Person for their virtual performances across platforms like Roblox and Fortnite.
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The nominees for Best Metaverse Performance are BLACKPINK, BTS, Charli XCX, Justin Bieber, Rift Tour (featuring Ariana Grande), and Twenty One Pilots.
Charli XCX’s nomination comes on the heels of her partnership with Roblox and Samsung on a special music-focused experience. Twenty One Pilots was nominated for its own Roblox performance, which has attracted more than 350,000 views on YouTube. BTS recreated their signature dance moves in Minecraft as their boxy avatars performed their hit songs, “Butter” and “Permission to Dance.” Ariana Grande took viewers to space in her Fortnite performance while BLACKPINK debuted a new song called “Ready for Love” in the PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Mobile game.
The push to introduce this new category comes after more celebrities are interacting and performing in the virtual realm. Virtual concert attendance grew tremendously during the pandemic, and now digital performances seem like they are here to stay.
Best Metaverse Performance isn’t the only new category that got added to the VMAs roster this year; a Best Longform Video showdown joined the party as well. Voting opened on Tuesday, and the VMAs are set to air live from Newark, New Jersey’s Prudential Center on Aug. 28.
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