Over the past two years, the metaverse has gone from a niche topic to the thing that everyone is talking about. Major artists have gotten in on the craze with virtual performances to connect with fans during the pandemic, and although there seems to currently be a bit of a lull in metaverse concerts as in-person tours roar back, they will remain an important part of many artists’ strategies in the long run.
The MTV Video Music Awards, which will be held for the 39th time at the end of August, have added a new category this year for “Best Metaverse Performance,” which reflects the growing impact of the metaverse and virtual concerts on the music industry.
Music has always been an important part of video games, but the two spheres are colliding more than ever before thanks to the increasing number of big-name artists heading to the metaverse — which, at least for now, are very often gaming platforms — and attracting fans who may have never logged into Roblox or Fortnite previously.
The metaverse concert craze kicked off back in 2019 when Marshmello held the first-ever virtual concert on Fortnite. The pandemic only served to add fuel to the fire, and enough artists have now participated in virtual performances that MTV deemed it time to include a metaverse category.
The contenders for the category cover a wide variety of metaverse platforms and include major artists who have hosted a metaverse performance in the last year: Ariana Grande on Fortnite, BLACKPINK on PUBG Mobile, BTS on Minecraft/YouTube, Charli XCX on Roblox, Justin Bieber on Wave, and Twenty One Pilots on Roblox.
It will be interesting to see whether over time, this category expands into more as metaverse shows become more varied and complex. For example, there may be category for pre-recorded experience, like Twenty One Pilots’ Roblox concert experience, and live virtual show, such as what Justin Bieber did on Wave.
Voting is now open, and fans can vote for their favorites until the ceremony on August 28th.