VMAs nominations see many artists snubbed while Swift is nominated in ten categories

On 6 August, MTV announced the nominees for the 2024 VMAs.  The MTV Video Music Awards are a prominent event in the mainstream music industry and the nominations, as with all award shows, warrant high hopes, unmet expectations, and serious levels of scrutiny. The nominations in 2024 have already led to upset from fans and artists alike, but have also set the stage for some monumental achievements.

Notably, Taylor Swift has been nominated in ten different categories, with her collaboration with Post Malone, ‘Fortnight’, receiving eight separate nominations. Alongside this, she has been nominated for ‘Artist of the Year’ and ‘Best Pop Video’. Therefore, Swift has the opportunity to outdo her performance in 2023, where she won nine awards, and attain the joint most wins in a single night – with ten awards to match Peter Gabriel in 1987. Furthermore, it is possible that, if she can secure half of her nominations, Swift can overtake Beyoncé with the most wins overall – with Beyoncé currently on 27 and Swift having 23.

The coveted ‘Artist of the Year’ Award has also set out an interesting competition

Regarding the ‘Video of the Year’ category, Swift may secure her fifth win in this category, creating a three-point lead from any other artists. This would also be her third consecutive ‘Video of the Year’ Award, as she won in 2022 with ‘All Too Well: The Short Film’ and in 2023 with ‘Anti-Hero’.  

However, she is facing some fierce competition in this category, as Doja Cat has also been nominated for ‘Paint The Town Red’, as well as Ariana Grande for ‘We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)’. Both artists have been nominated four times previously in this category. For two other nominees, SZA and Billie Eilish – both with three previous nominations – this would be their first victory in this category and would be a significant achievement. Furthermore, the final nominee, Eminem, is a fierce competitor as this is his eighth nomination overall in this category.

The coveted ‘Artist of the Year’ award has also set out an interesting competition. The nominees include Grande, Bad Bunny, and Swift. These three artists have all won this award prior – in 2019, 2022, and 2023 respectively. Therefore, if any of these artists win, it will be the first time since the introduction of the awards in 2017 that an artist will receive this award twice. Swift, as the incumbent, and Grande, holding the most nominations in this category (four), are undeniably the ones to watch.

However, this category is not limited to these three artists as Eminem, SZA, and Sabrina Carpenter have all received a nomination. Carpenter, with singles ‘Please Please Please’ and ‘Espresso’, is definitely a strong contender to secure this award, as she continues to battle herself on Global Spotify Charts and the BBC’s Official Top 10 – being the first female artist in Official Chart history to make it three weeks at No. 1 and No. 2.

Since last August, we have experienced the emergence of some incredibly talented artists who are worthy of heightened recognition

Now for my personal favourite category: ‘Best New Artist’. Since last August, we have experienced the emergence of some incredibly talented artists who are worthy of heightened recognition. The nominees for this category include Benson Boone, Chappell Roan, Gracie Abrams, Shaboozey, Teddy Swims, and Tyla. A favourite for this category is Roan, who has skyrocketed to success with her album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess and single ‘Good Luck Babe!’. She also recently broke records by drawing in the largest Lollapalooza crowd of all time – potentially setting her up for a victory in this category. 

However, she is facing fierce competition from Teddy Swims and Tyla, who have received 4 nominations, as well as from another favourite, Abrams.

As for alternate votable categories, for ‘Song of the Year’, I am hoping Carpenter can secure the award to represent the pop girlies with ‘Espresso’, as both Roan and Eilish have been snubbed for ‘Good Luck Babe!’ and ‘BIRDS OF A FEATHER’ respectively.  Le Sserafim are likely to win the ‘MTV Push Performance of the Year’ for their performance of ‘Easy’ in June 2024, following in the footsteps of their HYBE Seniors, Seventeen and TXT, who won in 2022 and 2023 respectively. However, it would be incredible if Victoria Monet’s ‘On My Mama’ or Roans’ ‘Red Wine Supernova’ could achieve a glimmer of recognition in this category. 

The ‘Best Collaboration’ category features two nominations for Post Malone with ‘Fortnite’ and ‘I Had Some Help’. This award is likely to be between Jungkook featuring Latto with ‘Seven’ and Swift’s ‘Fortnite’ featuring Post Malone. If Jungkook could win this award it would be revolutionary as it would be the first time a Kpop Artist would win this category.

Irrespectively, Charli XCX was deserving of more nominations in 2024, with the same being said for Eilish and Roan

Finally, with ‘Video for Good’, I am in support of Eilish with ‘What Was I Made For’ – an incredibly celebrated song with an Academy Award, Golden Globe, 2 Grammys, as well as a Satellite and Kid’s Choice Award. Therefore, I would expect to see the song achieve a VMA – although it would be fantastic to see RAYE’s ‘Genesis’ get some deserved credit.

There were further awards for categories which we are unable to vote for, such as Best ‘Direction’, ‘Cinematography’, ‘Editing’,  ‘Choreography’, and ‘Art Direction’. These categories, while less celebrated, saw the nomination of Charli XCX for two awards  – and expect her to win at least for ‘Art Direction’. Irrespectively, Charli XCX was deserving of more nominations in 2024, with the same being said for Eilish and Roan, as they all received only two nominations in less celebrated categories. Similarly, Monet, with only two nominations, was snubbed of a nomination in the ‘Best Choreography’ category with her track ‘On My Mama’, alongside Grande who should’ve been nominated for ‘yes, and?’, based on their musical influences and impact. Shockingly, Doja Cat only received one nomination, and just as shockingly Tinashe received zero nominations following the success of ‘Nasty’.  

Ultimately, irrespective of the awards, let’s ensure those who made an impact this year get their flowers, even if they were under appreciated by MTV.