The AMA's. For those unaware, the 2016 AMA's occurred Sunday, November 20th in Los Angeles at the Microsoft Theater. If you didn't know about the AMA's, for the purpose of this article, we want you to ask yourself why. Let us guess – you didn't care? For those of you who did tune in, why did you watch? And be honest.
The celebrity aspect. People don't watch mainstream music award shows for the sake of the music itself or for artistic integrity. They just don't. One reason people do watch award shows like the AMAs is for the celebrity aspect. Our culture is very celeb-centric. For some reason, a lot of us love it when all of the famous people of the moment are gathered in one place.
The music aspect. No one actually cares about the music aspect of any mainstream music awards show, and we'll tell you why. For one, we all know who the mainstream artists are and why they are mainstream. The very fact that they are played on the radio all the time and that they appeal to the masses means they're successful, so naturally, these same people are going to win awards every time an awards show pops up.
The same artists on rotation. The same pop, hip-hop, rap, and the select few rock and country artists always make the cut. Like your local Top 40s radio station, you will have the same artists on rotation every year. You will never be surprised by who ends up with an award in their hands.
No one cares who wins what. The only people who do care are the artists and their entourage. So really, as far as the awards aspect goes, they're just throwing a party for themselves – which is fine, but the general population doesn't need to be there for that.
Shock value. So why else, other than to watch celebrities clump together and wear pretty, shiny things, do we watch the AMA's? Well, we watch it for the same reason we watch any reality TV show. We watch it for shock value. Quite simply, we want to know what's going to happen when all of these characters interact with each other. Someone's bound to get tempers flaring at some point!
Gossip. For the same reason, we watch the AMA's (and shows like the AMA's) so we have something to gossip about with our peers the next day. It's a collective cultural moment that we can all chime in on. We want to be part of the conversation. But there are so many more interesting things to talk about.
The purpose of Hollywood. While this may sound shallow and stupid – and quite often is – this quality can actually be used for good purpose. As it happens, we are currently living in a period of extreme social and political turmoil and unrest. While nobody cares about who wins "Best Music Video," they will care when an artist they listen to all the time gets up and says something controversial.
What it's really about now. Mainstream awards shows like the AMA's are now only useful for the fact that they can be used as a platform for speaking. The general public doesn't watch actual political figures speak on channels like C-SPAN because it's absolutely boring. The general public will watch, however, when someone like Drake or Nicki Minaj gets up on stage and uses that moment to speak up about something.
What to use the mic for. Since everyone who watches the AMA's (and VMA's and whatever else) watches because they want to see what these celebs will do and say, it becomes a prime opportunity for artists to use their voice for something important. Many musicians unfortunately just care about money, fame, and status. Others, however, still hang on to what it means to be an artist and to use that art for something other than your own selfish desires.
