MTV Adds a Best Metaverse Performance Category to the Video Music Awards
MTV added a Best Metaverse Performance category to the Video Music Awards, pitting Ariana Grande’s performance in Fortnite against Twenty One Pilots’ concert in Roblox.
As reported by The Hill, voting is open for the Metaverse category and 21 others, and MTV will announce the winners at the VMA live show on August 28th.
The full list of nominees are: Ariana Grande’s Fortnite Rift Tour headlining performance, Blackpink’s PUBG: Mobile concert, BTS’s Minecraft performance, Charli XCX’s performance in Roblox, Justin Bieber’s interactive virtual experience in Wave, and the Twenty One Pilots concert in Roblox.
MTV said the increasing number of artists hosting performances digitally prompted them to create the new category.
“We saw an opportunity to highlight and honor some of the best and most impactful executions of it – and celebrate artists who found creative ways to use these spaces – which led to the addition of [the] Best Metaverse Performance category this year,” MTV said.
Travis Scott was one of the first artists to host a performance in this way when he played the Astronomical concert in 2020, and the connection between music and the metaverse has only grown since.
Fortnite remains at the forefront of the movement and also partnered with Coachella earlier this year to bring elements of the iconic festival to the game.