The MTV Video Music Awards are an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards, the annual MTV Video Music Awards ceremony has often been called the "Super Bowl for youth", an acknowledgment of the VMA ceremony's ability to draw millions of youth from teens to 20-somethings each year. By 2001, the VMA had become a coveted award. The statue given to winners is an astronaut on the moon, one of the earliest representations of MTV, and was colloquially called a "moonman". However, in 2017, Chris McCarthy, the President of MTV, stated that the statue would be called a "Moon Person" from then on. The statue was conceived by Manhattan Design—also designers of the original MTV logo—based on the 1981 "Top of the Hour" animation created by Fred Seibert, produced by Alan Goodman, and produced by Buzz Potamkin at Buzzco Associates. The statue is now made by New York firm Society Awards. Since the 2006 ceremony, viewers are able to vote for their favorite videos in all general categories by visiting MTV's website.
The MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year is the most prestigious competitive award and final award handed out at the annual MTV Video Music Awards. It was first awarded in 1984 and presented to The Cars for the video "You Might Think". The current holder is The Weeknd for the video "Blinding Lights".
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video was one of four original general awards that have been handed out every year since the first MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. In 2007, though, the award was briefly renamed Male Artist of the Year, and it awarded the artist's whole body of work for that year rather than a specific video. However, the award returned to its original name the following year. It was replaced by the Artist of the Year category in 2017, combining Best Male and Best Female video categories.
The MTV Video Music Award for Push Best New Artist has been given out since the first annual MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. Until 2006, the award was named Best New Artist in a Video. In 2007 its name was changed to Best New Artist, as the category underwent a format change to award the artist's body of work for the full year rather than a specific video. For the 2008 ceremony, though, while the award retained its 2007 name, it returned to the format of awarding a specific video rather than the artist's full body of work. The category was later renamed Artist to Watch through 2013 to 2015 while still keeping the format of an award going to a certain video. In 2020, the Best New Artist award merged with the Push Artist of the Year award (2018-2019) to create the Push Best New Artist award.
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction is an award given to the artist, the artist's manager, and the director of the music video. From 1984 to 2006, the full name of the award was Best Direction in a Video, and in 2007, it was briefly renamed Best Director. The category acquired its current name with the 2008 awards. The most frequent winners are Spike Jonze and David Fincher with three wins each, although one of Jonze's wins is credited as the "Torrance Community Dance Group".
The MTV Video Music Award for Viewer's Choice was first awarded at the first annual MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. Until 1994, the Viewer's Choice award nominees were the same as the Video of the Year nominees. In 1995 MTV created a separate set of nominees for Viewer's Choice and Video of the Year. This continued for the rest of the award's history.
The MTV Video Music Award for Best R&B was first awarded in 1993 under the name of Best R&B Video, and it was given every year until 2006, as the following year MTV revamped the VMAs and eliminated all the genre categories. The following year, though, when MTV returned the Video Music Awards to their previous format, Best R&B Video did not return despite four other genre awards doing so. It was only in 2019 that the R&B award returned to the VMAs, now under the shorter name of Best R&B. En Vogue, Destiny's Child, Beyoncé, and Alicia Keys are tied as this award's biggest winners, each having won it twice. Keys is also the category's biggest nominee, receiving her sixth nomination in 2020.
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Hip-Hop Video was first given out at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards. The award, according to MTV, was originally intended for hip-hop-inspired songs, not necessarily actual hip-hop music videos. This explains the recognition of non-hip-hop songs such as "Thong Song" and "I'm Real (Remix)". The award was not given out in 2007, as the VMAs were revamped and most original categories were eliminated, however, Best Hip-Hop Video was reinstated in 2008. By then, though, the rules had relatively changed, as R&B and rap videos also became eligible for nominations in this category since the awards for Best Rap Video and Best R&B Video were not brought back.
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Dance Video was first awarded in 1989, and it was one of the original four genre categories that were added to the MTV Video Music Awards that year. With a revamp of the awards in 2007, the category was cut out along with several others, yet it returned for the 2008 awards, where it was given a new name: Best Dancing in a Video. In 2009 the award for Best Dancing was again eliminated from the VMAs, but it was revived again in 2010 as Best Dance Music Video. The following year, though, the award was once again absent from the category list. Once again, the award was revived in 2012, this time under the name of Best Electronic Dance Music Video, celebrating the rise in popularity of EDM throughout the year. It was again eliminated for the 2013 awards. On July 17, 2014, MTV brought the category back, this time renaming it the MTV Clubland Award for the 2014 Awards. The pattern of awarding the moonman every other year continued in 2016 where the award was renamed Best Electronic Video. Finally, in 2017 this award's name was changed to Best Dance, which it has kept until the present. It was again eliminated for the 2020 awards.
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock was first given out in 1989, one of the four original genre categories added to the VMAs that year. In its first year, the award was called Best Heavy Metal Video, and from 1990 to 1995, it was renamed Best Metal/Hard Rock Video. The category underwent a third, brief name change in 1996, when it was renamed Best Hard Rock Video. In 1997, the award acquired its most enduring name, Best Rock Video, which it retained until 2016. The following year, the word "Video" was removed from all genre categories at the VMAs, giving this award its current name: Best Rock.
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Pop was first given out in 1999 under the name of Best Pop Video, as MTV began to put several teen pop acts in heavy rotation. Nominations, however, were not just limited to pop acts, as dance, R&B, pop/rock, and reggaeton artists have also received nominations throughout the award's history. In 2007, MTV eliminated this award along with all of the genre categories, but it returned in 2008. In 2017, the word "Video" was removed from the names of all genre categories, leaving this award with its current name: Best Pop.
The MTV2 Award was first presented at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2001. The category recognized the best videos to have premiered and/or got their start in MTV's sister channel, MTV2. Much like the Viewer's Choice award, the MTV2 Award was also fan-voted. Until 2005, the award was considered to be one of the main awards of the night, even being presented on the main show; in 2006, though, the MTV2 Award was relegated to being handed out during a commercial break of the MTV2 simulcast of the VMAs. The following year, as the VMAs were revamped, the MTV2 Award was eliminated and subsequently never brought back.
The 2006 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on August 31, 2006, honoring the best music videos from June 11, 2005, to June 26, 2006. The show was hosted by Jack Black at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
The MTV Video Music Award for Quadruple Threat of the Year was introduced in 2007, as the VMAs were revamped that year and a few new categories were introduced to the show. This award was peculiar for the MTV Video Music Awards, though, for it did not reward music nor music videos. Instead, the category awarded musical artists who excelled in at least three other areas beside their music career, such as acting, entrepreneurship, and activism, among others. When the VMAs returned to their old format in 2008, though, this category did not come back.
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Collaboration was first introduced to the MTV Video Music Awards in 2007 under the name Most Earthshattering Collaboration, as the VMAs were revamped and a few new categories were added to the show. When MTV brought the VMAs back to their old format in 2008, this category did not return. It was not until 2010 that the category was reintroduced under the name Best Collaboration.
The Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award is a special award of merit given to recording artists and music video directors at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), a ceremony that was established in 1984. It is presented by MTV for "outstanding contributions" and "profound impact" on music video and popular culture. As the ceremony's special category, the trophy is a gold-plated "moonman" rather than the silver ones of the other VMA categories. The Beatles and director Richard Lester were honored with the Video Vanguard Award at the inaugural VMAs for "essentially inventing the music video." David Bowie also received the award at the same ceremony. Two years later, Madonna became the first female recipient.
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Video with a Social Message is an award handed out at the yearly MTV Video Music Awards, first introduced at the 2011 ceremony. Originally named Best Video with a Message, the word "Social" was added to its name in 2013. For the 2017 ceremony the award was renamed Best Fight Against the System while still being known for awarding videos that address current social and political subjects. In 2018, the award's name became Video with a Message, and in 2019 it was changed to Video for Good.
The 2017 MTV Video Music Awards were held on August 27, 2017 at The Forum in Inglewood, California, honoring music videos released between June 25, 2016 and June 23, 2017. It was hosted by Katy Perry. The 34th annual award show aired live from the venue for the second time in its history. The music video for Taylor Swift's song "Look What You Made Me Do" premiered during the broadcast. Lil Yachty co-hosted the pre-show with Terrence J, Charlamagne Tha God, and MTV News' Gaby Wilson, while Gabbie Hanna hosted backstage for the show. It was broadcast across various Viacom networks and their related apps.
The MTV Video Music Award for Artist of the Year is one of the biggest awards given at the annual MTV Video Music Awards. It was first introduced at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards, replacing both the MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video and Best Female Video as MTV want to eliminate gender-specific awards.
The 2020 MTV Video Music Awards were held on August 30, 2020. Keke Palmer hosted the 37th annual ceremony, which was presented primarily from New York City, but with no in-person ceremony due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.