If you’re looking for the what’s what in the music industry, there’s a good chance Billboard has what you’re looking for. The magazine and its digital news site are home to the latest in music, from music charts and artist interviews to tour announcements and op-eds. And to keep us all up to date on the best new music coming out, they have an annual award show: the Billboard Music Awards.
Billboard is shaking things up in 2023, and you don’t want to miss it.
This year’s Billboard award show will take place on November 19, 2023. You can watch it live on billboard.com.
Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s show, including some of the top categories and the nominees.
WHAT ARE THE BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS?
Since 1990, Billboard has been putting on the Billboard Music Awards (BBMAs) to honor the top songs and artists of the year. For the first 16 years, award winners were honored in December, right at the start of award show season. After a hiatus from 2007-2010, the annual event was moved to May, up until this year, that is. But more on that later.
There are three general award categories, which are: Artist Awards, Album Awards and Song Awards. Now, that doesn’t mean there are only three Billboard Music Award winners; rather, there are winners for each category across many different genres.
Instead of having a committee choose the nominees and winners of each category, as the Grammys, Emmys and other award shows do, Billboard uses a number of different sources that measure fan engagement to determine the award finalists. These sources include:
- Album and song sales
- Streaming numbers
- Radio airplay
- Touring
- Social engagement
Time is also an important component. Only songs and albums released between Nov. 19, 2022, and Oct. 21, 2023, are eligible to be nominated for the 2023 award show.
HOW IS THE AWARD SHOW CHANGING IN 2023?
There are a few key changes with this year’s award show, which are laid out below:
WHEN ARE THE BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS?
Back in April, Billboard and its production partner, Dick Clark Productions, announced that the award show would be pushed from its usual date in May to a late fall date.
The new date has since been announced (November 19th) and after 18 months since the 2022 show, fans are eagerly awaiting to find out if their favorite artists will take home a BBMA award this year.
WHAT ARTISTS WILL BE PERFORMING AT THE BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS?
Now here’s where things get really interesting. Billboard is switching things up by creating a new kind of experience, unlike any other award shows. A post from the publication explains:
“In addition to the artists who perform live that night, select BBMAs winners will celebrate their achievements through unique performance experiences with their top fans.”
Yup, 100 lucky super fans of various artists will get “golden tickets” and a chance to become a Billboard Music Awards VIP for the night. Instead of a typical award show performance, select winners will be performing for their top 100 fans at secret locations.
For the millions of other fans that won’t receive a golden ticket, don’t worry, Billboard has you covered. The BBMAs broadcast on November 19 will combine the exclusive fan performances with live components from the main show in Los Angeles to give viewers an all-inclusive experience for the night.
As of now, we don’t know which artists will be performing for fans or the main show, but as soon as it’s announced, you can find the information here.
2023 BBMA CATEGORIES AND NOMINATIONS
The nominees for the 2023 Billboard Music Awards have yet to be announced, but as soon as they are, this page will be updated.
Until then, here is a list of the categories as well as some of our favorite performances from the 2022 BBMAs at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
ARTIST AWARDS
- Top Artist
- Top New Artist
- Top Male Artist
- Top Female Artist
- Top Duo/Group
- Top Billboard 200 Artist
- Top Hot 100 Artist Top
- Streaming Songs Artist
- Top Song Sales Artist
- Top Radio Songs Artist
- Top Billboard Global Artist
- Top Billboard Global (Non-US) Artist
- Top Tour Top R&B Artist
- Top Male R&B Artist
- Top Female R&B Artist
- Top R&B Tour
- Top Rap Artist
- Top Country Artist
- Top Male Country Artist
- Top Female Country Artist
- Top Country Duo/Group
- Top Rock Artist
- Top Rock Tour
- Top Latin Artist
- Top Latin Male Artist
- Top Latin Female Artist
- Top Latin Duo/Group
- Top Latin Tour
- Top Dance/Electronic Artist
- Top Christian Artist
- Top Gospel Artist
ALBUM AWARDS
- Top Billboard 200 Album
- Top Soundtrack
- Top R&B Album
- Top Rap Album
- Top Country Album
- Top Rock Album
- Top Latin Album
- Top Dance/Electronic Album
- Top Christian Album
- Top Gospel Album
SONG AWARDS
- Top Hot 100 Song
- Top Streaming Song
- Top Selling Song
- Top Radio Song
- Top Collaboration
- Top Billboard Global 200 Song
- Top Billboard Global (non-US) Song
- Top Viral Song
- Top R&B Song
- Top Rap Song
- Top Country Song
- Top Rock Song
- Top Latin Song
- Top Dance/Electronic Song
- Top Christian Song
- Top Gospel Song
And make sure to check out these performances from last year’s BBMAs:
First up: Silk Sonic
And the one and only Megan Thee Stallion.
Can’t forget Ed Sheeran!
HOW TO WATCH THE BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS?
You can watch the 2023 Billboard Music Awards on billboard.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
When are the Billboard Music Awards?
The Billboard Music Awards take place on November 19th.
What channel can I watch the Billboard Music Awards on?
The Billboard Music Awards will be broadcast live on NBC, channel 12 on DIRECTV. The show will also be streaming on Peacock.
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