2022 Billboard Music Awards
May 15, 2022
MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
United States
Olivia Rodrigo (7)
The Weeknd (17)
2.11 million
MRC Live, Alternative[1]
Background[edit]
Nominations were announced on April 8, 2022, via Twitter, and selected from releases during the eligibility period of March 26, 2021, through April 10, 2022, which corresponded to Billboard's chart dates of April 10, 2021, through March 26, 2022. Five new categories were included: Top Billboard Global 200 Artist, Top Billboard Global Excl. U.S. Artist, Top Billboard Global 200 Song, Top Billboard Global Excl. U.S. Song, and Top Viral Song, taking the ceremony's total to 62 categories.[2] The global categories are based on Billboard's Global 200/Global Excl. U.S. charts launched in 2020 while the Viral Song category was created to honor songs that achieve virality on social media platforms, namely TikTok.[3] No fan-voted categories were announced. Sean "Diddy" Combs was announced as the show's host (and executive producer alongside Robert Deaton) on April 22.[4]
The awards were preceded by the first-ever Billboard MusicCon, a 2-day music event sponsored by Smirnoff and held on May 13 and 14 at Area15 in Las Vegas. Participants comprised both artists and executives, and included industry managers such as Dina Sahim (Swedish House Mafia, French Montana), Alex DePersia (Pharrell Williams, Gracie Abrams), and Nelly Ortiz (DJ Khaled). International artists invited as guest speakers included Anitta, Burna Boy, Ukrainian singer Max Barskih, and Rauw Alejandro. Anitta, Shenseea, Ty Dolla Sign, Latto, and Machine Gun Kelly were among the performers.[5] Panels held included discussions on the evolution of the music scene across genres and cultures, and women in music, among other related topics.
Broadcast and viewership[edit]
The show aired live on NBC and was also available for streaming on Peacock.[6] It garnered the lowest viewership in the history of the ceremony, with 2.11 million viewers. The three-hour long broadcast earned an average 0.5 rating in the 18–49 demographic on NBC, dropping even lower than the previous year's 0.7 rating and 2.8 million audience.[7] This later was surpassed but the next year’s event; which had lack of many viewers due to the ceremony being live streamed online.