No award show is ever going to please everyone or truly represent the greatness of music being released when it’s at least 60-70% also a popularity contest, but the Billboard Music Awards this year truly took that to a new level of popular-kid-winning-prom-king last night.
The Chainsmokers won for Top Dance/Electronic Artist, which isn’t entirely surprising, though they’re currently still in hot water for playing a show that just got fined $20,000 for violating social distancing guidelines in the Hamptons.
Marshmello won for Top Dance/Electronic Album for… a Fortnite set. Putting aside for a moment that so many more albums this year could have been included in the nominations if it weren’t for Billboard’s guidelines for nominees (nominees and winners are selected based on music criteria including album and digital song sales, streaming rates, radio airplay, touring and social engagement), it’s not even a real album except by ambiguous standards. Less than 50% of the songs on Marshmello Fortnite Extended Set are even by Marshmello himself.
Diplo won Top Dance/Electronic Song for his collaboration with Ellie Goulding and Swae Lee, “Close To Me,” assuredly a top-charting song but nowhere near as good as “Good Things Fall Apart” by Illenium, one of the best songs of last year and admittedly a pop song, not so much electronic.
Ultimately, dwelling on these results won’t do any good as long as Billboard’s criteria for selecting nominees remains the same, but we can use it to fuel our ire for at least the day. See the complete winners list here. (Who knew Billie Eilish was still a new artist?? Or literally anyone else in that category, for that matter.)
Top Dance/Electronic Artist:
Avicii
WINNER: The Chainsmokers
DJ Snake
Illenium
Marshmello
Top Dance/Electronic Album:
Avicii “Tim”
The Chainsmokers “World War Joy”
Illenium “Ascend”
WINNER: Marshmello “Marshmello: Fortnite Extended Set”
Alan Walker “Different World”
Top Dance/Electronic Song:
Black Eyed Peas x J Balvin “Ritmo (Bad Boys For Life)”
WINNER: Ellie Goulding x Diplo ft. Swae Lee “Close To Me”
Illenium & Jon Bellion “Good Things Fall Apart”
Kygo x Whitney Houston “Higher Love”
Marshmello ft. Chvrches “Here With Me”
Photos via Rukes.com
