After a one year hiatus, the YouTube Music Awards (YTMA) returned – but this time without a live show, or even trophies. The new ‘online format’ of the show was the source of some controversy, but ultimately proved to be successful.
On their opening show in 2013, the YTMA was held at a warehouse on New York City’s Pier 36, and was broadcast live on their website. Directed by Spike Jonze, the performance was heavily criticized for mispronounced names, technical difficulties, and long pauses. Likewise, it was also criticized for having less to do with publicizing start-up musicians on YouTube, and more with honoring celebrities. During 2014, YouTube had taken the year off to re-evaluate how the show was being run.
With the return of the YTMA this year, the format was changed dramatically to improve its overall quality. Considered to be the most dramatic change, the ‘show’ itself is simply a YouTube playlist that featured the music performances – whereas 2013’s was a 90 minute show. Regardless of the changes, the show was still sponsored by VICE Media and Kia Motors, and was able to attain over 54 million views. And as opposed to having a host who spoke between performances and introduced them, Tyler Oakley pre-recorded commentaries for the music videos.
Musically, this year’s show was a large success. While celebrities were still featured, the added spotlight to rising artists helped gain attention to new musicians such as Kygo and Lindsey Stirling. The voting aspect remained similar, as votes were still based on how frequently a specific performance was shared or viewed.
Fifty winners were declared, and thirteen new music videos were featured. Among the new artists’ videos include Max Schneider’s dark and heavily dance-oriented video for his winning song Gibberish; an extreme costume party for Kygo’s Stole the Show, and Shamir’s Muppet-themed video for Call it off.
Of course, featured celebrities were also granted performances. Martin Garrix featured Usher for his new song Don’t Look Down, and Charlie XCX’s performance of Famous was a parody of people who take selfies too seriously.
In addition to the videos, behind the scene segments with the artists were also featured on the Music Awards’ main channel.
Since 2013, YTMA has been somewhat of a ‘weird’ alternative to other large scale music awards, as it has always seemed to be mostly unconventional. However, many argue that the YTMAs were very fun to watch, and are also very beneficial to rising artists.
Currently, it is unclear as to whether or not the YTMA will return for another year. While 2015’s show date was announced last November, it is still too soon to expect an announcement from YouTube about next year’s show.
