The MTV Video Music Awards was on Sunday night. Singer Doja Cat hosted, and Lil’ Nas X took home the prize for Video of the Year. Justin Bieber won Artist of the Year, while BTS won Group of the Year. Celebrities and want-to-be celebrities graced the red carpet, and the outfits ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous. While most viewers watched the award show as music lovers, the event could have been considered from a sociological perspective by applying key concepts from the topic of groups and organizations.
There was a wealth of sociology on display at the VMA’s. For example, red carpet sensations Travis Barker and Kourtney Kardashian displayed their affection as a dyad, a group of two people. On the other hand, Swedish House Mafia exemplified a triad, a group of three members. Dyads and triads often form a primary group, a small-scale, intimate face-to-face, long-lasting association. Primary groups consist of people you are close to and know really well. This may include not only significant others, family, and friends but also band members. By comparison, a secondary group is a large-scale, impersonal, task-focused, and time-limited association. So, for example, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a secondary group, and The Beatles are a primary group within the larger organization.
As the awards were handed out, the winners became members of an elite in-group, a social unit to which an individual belongs and feels a sense of “we.” Although the nominees could also count themselves as members of an exclusive club of artists, they were still part of the out-group, individuals who do not belong, or are excluded from, one’s own group, compared to the VMA winners. Regardless, just receiving an invitation to the award show put attendees in a social clique, a small, close-knit, and exclusive group of individuals, few of us will ever experience.
For aspiring musicians, award nominees and winners may act as a reference group, a collection of people used for comparison and identification. Future nominees may ask themselves whether their music is more like that of Justin Bieber or Megan Thee Stallion and tailor their image accordingly. Using other artists as a frame of reference may result in some wannabe performers undergoing resocialization, an identity transformation in which social norms and roles are altered or replaced, as they aspire to fit into the music world.
