The Billboard Music Awards are honors given out annually by Billboard, a publication covering the music business and a music popularity chart. The Billboard Music Awards show has been held annually since 1990, with the exception of the years 2007 through 2010. The event was previously staged in December,[1] but has been held in May since returning in 2011.[2] On October 19, 2023, it was announced that the award ceremony will be reformatted as a digital-only show and move from broadcast television to its website and Billboard's social media pages, starting with the 2023 edition on November 19.[3]
| Billboard Music Awards | |
|---|---|
| Current: 2023 Billboard Music Awards | |
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| Awarded for | Outstanding chart performance |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Billboard |
| First awarded | December 10, 1990 |
| Website | billboardmusicawards |
| Television/radio coverage | |
| Network | Fox (1990–2006) ABC (2011–2017) NBC (2018–2022) |
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Awards process
Unlike other awards, such as the Grammy Award, which determine nominations as a result of the highest votes received by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Billboard Music Awards finalists are based on album and digital songs sales, streaming, radio airplay, touring, and social engagement. These measurements are tracked year-round by Billboard and its data partners, including MRC Data and Next Big Sound. The 2018 awards were based on the reporting period of April 8, 2017 through March 31, 2018.[4] Awards are given for the top album, artist and single in a number of different music genres.
Awards
Categories
From 1990 to 2006, the show had the same categories and category names every year. In 2011, for the first time, all of the awards were renamed to "Top [award title]". The "of the year" portion of each category title no longer exists, and many of the awards have been further renamed. Other awards, including both "crossover" awards (No. 1 Classical Crossover Artist and No. 1 Classical Crossover Album) were discontinued. As of 2024, there are three fan-voted categories.
Current categories
The general categories are Top Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album, Top Hot 100 Song and Top New Artist. These categories highlighted in each award and other categories are divided by genre.
General
- Top Artist
- Top New Artist
- Top Male Artist
- Top Female Artist
- Top Duo/Group
- Top Billboard 200 Artist
- Top Billboard 200 Album
- Top Hot 100 Artist
- Top Hot 100 Song
- Top Touring Artist
- Top Song Sales Artist (since 2016)
- Top Selling Album (since 2018)
- Top Selling Song (since 2016)
- Top Radio Songs Artist
- Top Radio Song
- Top Streaming Artist
- Top Streaming Song (Audio)
- Top Streaming Song (Video)
R&B
- Top R&B Artist
- Top R&B Male Artist (since 2018)
- Top R&B Female Artist (since 2018)
- Top R&B Album
- Top R&B Song
- Top R&B Tour (since 2017)
Rap
- Top Rap Artist
- Top Rap Male Artist (since 2018)
- Top Rap Female Artist (since 2018)
- Top Rap Album
- Top Rap Song
- Top Rap Tour (since 2017)
Country
- Top Country Artist
- Top Country Male Artist (since 2018)
- Top Country Female Artist (since 2018)
- Top Country Duo/Group Artist (since 2018)
- Top Country Album
- Top Country Song
- Top Country Tour (since 2017)
Rock
- Top Rock Artist
- Top Rock Album
- Top Rock Song
- Top Rock Tour (since 2017)
Latin
- Top Latin Artist
- Top Latin Male Artist (since 2021)
- Top Latin Female Artist (since 2021)
- Top Latin Duo/Group (since 2021)
- Top Latin Album
- Top Latin Song
- Top Latin Touring Artist (since 2023)
K-Pop
- Top Global K-Pop Artist (since 2023)
- Top Global K-Pop Song (since 2023)
- Top K-Pop Album (since 2023)
- Top K-Pop Touring Artist (since 2023)
Dance/Electronic
- Top Dance/Electronic Artist (since 2014)
- Top Dance/Electronic Album (since 2014)
- Top Dance/Electronic Song (since 2014)
Christian
Gospel
- Top Gospel Artist (since 2016)
- Top Gospel Album (since 2016)
- Top Gospel Song (since 2016)
Others genres
- Top Soundtrack (1993, 1998, 2000, 2006, 2015 – present)
- Top Social Artist (fan-voted)
- Billboard Chart Achievement (since 2015, fan-voted)
- Top Collaboration (since 2017, fan-voted)
Retired categories (1990–2017)
- Top Alternative Album
- Top Alternative Artist
- Top Alternative Song
- Top Classical Crossover Artist
- Top Classical Crossover Album
- Top Country Collaboration (2017)
- Top Dance Artist (until 2013)
- Top Dance Album (until 2013)
- Top Dance Song (until 2013)
- Top Digital Media Artist (until 2012)
- Top Digital Songs Artist (until 2015)
- Top Digital Song (until 2015)
- Top EDM Artist (until 2013)
- Top EDM Album (until 2013)
- Top EDM Song (until 2013)
- Top Independent Artists
- Top Independent Album
- Top Modern Rock Artist
- Top Modern Rock Track
- Top New Male Artist
- Top New Female Artist
- Top New Group/Band
- Top New Song
- Top Pop Song (until 2013)
- Top Pop Album (until 2013)
- Top Pop Artist (until 2013)
- Top Pop Punk Artist
- Top Rap Artist (until 2017)
- Top R&B Collaboration (2017)
- Top Rap Collaboration (2017)
- Top Rhythmic Top 40 Title
- Top Selling Single
- Top Soundtrack Single of the Year
- Milestone Award (2013, 2014)
Special awards
Most wins
The record for most Billboard Music Awards won by an artist is held by Taylor Swift and Drake who have won 39 awards each.[60] The record for most Billboard Music Awards won by a group is held by BTS who have won 12 awards.[61]
| Rank | Artist | Number of awards |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Drake | 39 |
| Taylor Swift | ||
| 2 | Justin Bieber | 26 |
| 3 | The Weeknd | 22 |
| 4 | Mariah Carey | 20 |
| 5 | Garth Brooks | 19 |
| 6 | Adele | 18 |
| Usher | ||
| Kanye West | ||
| 7 | Eminem | 17 |
| 8 | Whitney Houston | 16 |
| 9 | Morgan Wallen | 14 |
| Beyoncé | ||
| 10 | 50 Cent | 13 |
| 11 | BTS | 12 |
| Carrie Underwood | ||
| George Michael | ||
| Rihanna | ||
| R.Kelly | ||
| T.I. | ||
| 12 | Destiny's Child | 11 |
| Janet Jackson | ||
| Mary J. Blige | ||
| 13 | Imagine Dragons | 10 |
| Lady Gaga | ||
| Post Malone |
Most Wins in a single ceremony
| Rank | Artist | Most wins |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Drake | 13 |
| 2 | Adele | 12 |
| Drake | ||
| 3 | Whitney Houston | 11 |
Performances
Broadcast
Since its inception (created by Rick Garson, Paul Flattery & Jim Yukich), the BMAs had been telecast on the Fox network; however due to contractual expirations and other unforeseen circumstances, the awards were cancelled for 2007. Plans for a new version of the awards in 2008 (in association with AEG Live) fell through, and the BMAs were not held until 2011.
On February 17, 2011, Billboard announced that it would bring the BMAs back to television, moving from its original home on Fox to its new network, ABC, on May 22, 2011.[62] A new award statuette was created by New York firm Society Awards. Dick Clark Productions, which is co-owned with Billboard, began producing the ceremony in 2014.[63] On November 28, 2017, it was announced that the Billboard Music Awards would be moving from ABC to NBC beginning in 2018 under a multi-year contract.[64]
The 2020 ceremony, originally scheduled for April 29, was postponed indefinitely on March 17 due to coronavirus-related public assembly concerns.[65] On August 14, 2020, it was announced that the 2020 ceremony had been rescheduled to October 14.
Ratings
| Year | Day | Date | Network | 18–49 rating | Viewers (in millions) | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | Share | ||||||
| 1990 | Monday | December 10 | Fox | 14.50 | [66] | ||
| 1991 | December 9 | 11.60 | [67] | ||||
| 1992 | Wednesday | December 9 | 15.00 | [68] | |||
| 1993 | December 8 | 14.00 | [69] | ||||
| 1994 | December 7 | 11.10 | [70] | ||||
| 1995 | December 6 | 12.10 | [71] | ||||
| 1996 | December 4 | 11.60 | [72] | ||||
| 1997 | Monday | December 8 | 12.81 | [73] | |||
| 1998 | December 7 | 11.36 | [74] | ||||
| 1999 | Wednesday | December 8 | 12.12 | [75] | |||
| 2000 | Tuesday | December 5 | 5.4 | 14 | 11.43 | [76][77] | |
| 2001 | December 4 | 5.6 | 15 | 11.70 | [78] | ||
| 2002 | Monday | December 9 | 4.3 | 11 | 9.36 | [79][80] | |
| 2003 | Wednesday | December 10 | 4.6 | 12 | 9.81 | [78] | |
| 2004 | December 8 | 3.1 | 8 | 6.87 | [78] | ||
| 2005 | Tuesday | December 6 | 3.1 | 8 | 6.38 | [78] | |
| 2006 | Monday | December 4 | 2.7 | 7 | 6.09 | [78] | |
| 2007–2010 | — | Not held | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2011 | Sunday | May 22 | ABC | 3.0 | 8 | 7.88 | [81] |
| 2012 | May 20 | 2.7 | 7 | 7.40 | [82] | ||
| 2013 | May 19 | 3.5 | 10 | 9.48 | [83] | ||
| 2014 | May 18 | 3.5 | 10 | 10.50 | [84] | ||
| 2015 | May 17 | 3.8 | 12 | 11.18 | [85] | ||
| 2016 | May 22 | 3.2 | 10 | 9.76 | [86][87] | ||
| 2017 | May 21 | 2.6 | 9 | 8.70 | [88][87] | ||
| 2018 | May 20 | NBC | 2.4 | 9 | 7.87 | [89][90] | |
| 2019 | Wednesday | May 1 | 2.1 | 10 | 8.01 | [91] | |
| 2020 | October 14 | 0.8 | 5 | 3.71 | [92] | ||
| 2021 | Sunday | May 23 | 0.7 | 4 | 2.77 | [93] | |
| 2022 | May 15 | 0.7 | 6 | 2.56 | [94] | ||