Billboard is one of the world’s oldest magazines. It was founded in 1894 by James Hennegan and William Donaldson. In the 1900s, it covered everything entertainment industry related, from circus and burlesque shows to fairs. Music hit parades which made Billboard one of the world’s biggest music magazines first appeared on its pages in the 1930s. Since the early 1960s, it has been exclusively covering music.
Billboard regularly publishes several music charts, raking the most popular singles and albums in the United States and elsewhere. One of the most important Billboard charts is the Billboard Hot 100. It is basically the official hit parade of the most popular singles in the United States. The Billboard 200 ranks the most popular music albums and EPs in the US.
The Billboard magazine inaugurated its own music awards in 1989. Unlike the Grammy Awards whose winners are chosen by members of The Recording Academy, the Billboard Music Awards are given out based on the popularity of an artist, song, or album. Popularity is determined by several criteria such as single/EP/album sales, number of downloads, total airplay, chart performance, etc. Awards are given for the top artist, album and single in different genres. The most important categories are Top Artist, Top New Artist, Top Hot 100 Song and Top Billboard 200 Album.
The inaugural Billboard Music Awards show was held in 1989. The winners included George Michael (Top Artist), Michael Jackson’s album Bad (Top Billboard 200 Album), and Janet Jackson’s song “Miss You Much” (Top Hot 100 Song). The ceremony has been held each year ever since then except for a hiatus in 2007–2010.
Past ceremonies were held in Santa Monica, Los Angeles and New York City. Since 1996, the show has taken place in Las Vegas. As of 2016, its venue is T-Mobile Arena. The show is held each May and is broadcast live on ABC.
Photo: billboardmusicawards.com
