With the increasing diversification of music, television and entertainment, 2020 is proving that recognition from award shows isn’t an indicator of success for many artists.
From the Oscars to the Grammys, award shows have been heavily criticized on social media in recent years because of the lack of diversity.
However, last year, Korean pop band BTS opened a window of opportunity for success in the U.S., for K-pop artists and international musicians.
The band is one of the first Korean groups to sell out multiple arenas across the U.S., obtain a top 10 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and perform at the Grammys.
Despite the group’s success, they still haven’t secured nominations in top categories for the Grammys.
At the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards, BTS was placed in a separate K-pop category, instead of the regular nomination brackets for artist of the year and song of the year.
Many artists who’ve been recognized at award shows have said that while it’s an accomplishment to be acknowledged and awarded for the music they create, they’ve noticed the inequity of nominations.
Today, it seems award shows only cater to accomplished artists instead of the next best artist.
Tyler, the Creator even called out the award categories at the 2020 Grammys after winning best rap album.
“Whenever guys that look like me do anything, like, ‘genre bending’ they always put it in a ‘rap’ or ‘urban’ category,” he said.
In the same post-win interview he said he feels the word “urban” is a socially acceptable way to say the N-word and Black alternative musicians are wrongfully placed into rap genres.
At the 2020 Oscars, “Parasite” won best picture as the first non-English-language film to win the category in the show’s history.
While this was a transformative win for international films, there has yet to be a female director nominated for this category. Over the show’s 92-year history, only five women were nominated for best director.
Women have wrongfully been excluded from these categories for too long.
On Aug. 30, the 2020 VMAs was hosted by Keke Palmer, who is the first Black woman to host the show on MTV network.
It’s unfathomable that in the 37 years the show has been on air, it took this long to have the first Black female host. It’s especially grievous because Black artists have had such huge impacts in the music industry in the last few decades.
It seems suspiciously convenient that the VMAs chose Palmer to host the event in light of the 2020 protests for Black Lives Matter.
Unlike previous years, the show didn’t have a star-studded red carpet and paparazzi flashing their cameras while screaming fans waited to see their
favorite artists.
Like most television productions during the pandemic, the VMAs aired online segments and speeches from artists like Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande and The Weeknd.
The award show overused green screens to depict online audience members and create different backgrounds, and frankly, it seemed like the VMAs should’ve been canceled this year if all viewers were going to get were prerecorded performances.
Lady Gaga swept the awards, including winning the first Tricon award.
According to the MTV VMAs’ website, the Tricon award recognizes an artist who is highly accomplished in multiple areas outside of music.
While Lady Gaga has a multifaceted career as a musician, fashion influencer and actress, other multitalented artists haven’t been recognized for their other pursuits.
Many fans took their concerns about her win to Twitter, saying the show was “rigged” and the reason Lady Gaga won multiple awards is because she was one of the bigger artists present that night.
“Rain on Me” by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande won top awards like best collaboration and best song. Other successful songs like “Savage” by Megan Thee Stallion were nominated in some of the same categories as “Rain on Me,” but only managed to receive one award.
Recently, artists have been using their acceptance speeches at award shows to spread awareness about issues like systemic racism.
Palmer used her platform as host to talk about racial inequality in the U.S. and the Aug. 23 shooting of Jacob Blake Jr., a Black man from Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The Weeknd won two awards at the VMAs and dedicated his wins to unarmed Black individuals who were fatally shot.
“It’s really hard for me to celebrate right now and enjoy this moment, so I’m just going to say, ‘justice for Jacob Blake [Jr.] and justice for Breonna Taylor,’ ” The Weeknd said.
Artists who use award shows as a soapbox have incredible
influence on fans, but their efforts to enact change can cause controversy among those who don’t agree.
With COVID-19 still very present, many fans thought it would be a better idea to cancel award shows altogether this year. Some said it wouldn’t be worth it, but the VMAs continued with artists and VMA operators obeying protocols from the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, such as wearing masks.
Many award shows have seen half as many viewers as in previous years. CNBC stated in a Feb.15 article, “the Emmys and the Grammys both saw declines in viewership in the last year. The Emmys’ ratings fell 32% to 6.9 million viewers and the Grammys’ ratings slipped a more modest 5% to 18.7 million views.”
Members of Generation Z have posted on social media platforms like Twitter that they’re less likely to watch cable television because of a shift in focus toward other streaming platforms.
Unlike previous generations, viewers don’t have to tune into these award shows to find out the winners. Instead, information about the winners in each category can be obtained online through social media platforms like TikTok, Twitter and Instagram.
Excluding new artists in certain award categories makes many viewers question the credibility of the academies and board members who decide who wins these awards.
It’s worthless to host award shows that don’t acknowledge accomplishments from breakout artists who aren’t nominated because of the shows’ rigid, outdated standards.
