The 2024 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) took place on Sept. 12 in New York. On the 41st anniversary of the awards show, 29 artists received their first-ever nominations while various other seasoned artists took home multiple awards.
Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift led with a total of 12 nominations, including awards for Video of the Year, Artist of the Year, and Best Collaboration. Pop singer Sabrina Carpenter received the “Moon Person” statue for winning Song of the Year with her single “Espresso.” Singer Chappell Roan, whose hit songs include “Good Luck, Babe!” and “HOT TO GO!,” was named Best New Artist.
Other notable winners included SZA, Eminem, Tyla, and Blackpink rapper Lisa for Best R&B, Best Hip-Hop, Best Afrobeats, and Best K-pop, respectively. The awards show stirred up controversy as various famous artists, including Charli XCX and Olivia Rodrigo, received no awards despite receiving numerous nominations. Considering the large impact of both of these artists this year, with Charli XCX’s album “Brat” creating the social media term “Brat Summer” and Olivia Rodrigo’s “Guts Tour” selling out numerous stadiums, this came as a shock to many fans.
“The awards are for the quality of the music, but just because an artist has more fans does not mean that their music was necessarily good or deserving of the award,” Julie Lee (11), Taylor Swift and pop music fan, said. “So, I feel like instead of having a voting system fully determined by fans, the winners should be determined by both fans and a judging panel, or some kind of mix.”
This voting system has caused controversy as voters could potentially vote on numerous devices and because votes are almost entirely dependent on the number of fans that a particular artist has. Therefore, awards are given out based on an artist’s popularity rather than the quality and creativity of their music.
Fans have speculated that some award “sweeps” or “snubs” were due to the unique winner selection process that the VMAs use. Unlike other popular awards shows such as the Oscars and the Emmys, both of which have members of the Academy select the winners, the VMAs determine the award winners through viewers’ votes on MTV’s website.
“The VMAs, I find to be kind of a conduit of cultural sewage, and much of it is more spectacle than substance or quality,” Chris Blendheim, avid music listener, said. “The judging system definitely has a bandwagon effect where if somebody is the rage currently, they are gonna get the most votes. I think MTV, with its dwindling viewership and ratings, has to resort to shock value. That has kind of been their model for quite a while.”
The 42nd VMAs will be held in August or September of 2025 and will likely employ the same voting system.
