Music videos are not as popular a form of media today as they were forty years ago, and it seems the VMA Music Awards may be following a similar trajectory. When asked the question, “Did you watch the show?” almost all TBS students responded, “No.” So why has the younger generation lost interest in the VMAs? Do they not care about the music industry? 

“I genuinely didn’t know what the VMAs were before [this interview],” said sophomore KC Thompson. 

Or does the award show landscape just hold less significance to them? 

Compared to awards shows like the Grammys and Emmys, the VMAs have been lesser-known over the years, and it’s only becoming more unpopular. In previous years, fans have been wowed by both performances and red-carpet fashion. Back in 2010, Lady Gaga dropped jaws when she showed up in a dress made completely of raw meat. But recent VMAs shows have been underwhelming and repetitive. Young people don’t have much of a reason to watch the VMAs, and it’s discussed so little that people, like Thompson, are unaware of what the program is.

According to the American Press Institute in 2022, approximately 70% of people under thirty use social media as a primary source of news. Whatever airs on the 6 o’clock news was already posted on Instagram two minutes after it happened. Whatever was missed can easily be found on social media the next day. The same goes for the VMA results. A presenter opens the envelope, and five seconds later, a post about who won has 5,000 likes. So, why go through the trouble of staying up late to watch a 3-hour program when it’s that simple? The VMAs just don’t have the same edge-of-your-seat grip on its viewers as it did in its early years. 

The rise and fall of the VMA music awards is ongoing. Because of its obscurity and irrelevance, this star that once burned brightly has begun to dim its light.