American Music Awards

The American Music Awards show is one of several annual major American music awards shows (among the others are the Billboard Music Awards, the Grammy Awards, and the Country Music Association Awards). The AMA's (in current chronological order, the first of the "Big Three" music awards) were created by Dick... Read More

The American Music Awards show is one of several annual major American music awards shows (among the others are the Billboard Music Awards, the Grammy Awards, and the Country Music Association Awards). The AMA's (in current chronological order, the first of the "Big Three" music awards) were created by Dick Clark in 1973 to compete with the Grammys after the move of that year's show to Nashville, Tennessee led to CBS picking up the Grammy telecasts after its first two in 1971 and 1972 were broadcast on ABC. Michael Jackson and Donny Osmond co-hosted the first award show with Rodney Allen Rippy and Ricky Segall. While the Grammys are awarded based on votes by members of the entertainment industry, the AMAs are determined by a poll of music buyers. The "big three" established awards shows (AMAs, Billboard Music Awards, and Grammys) compete for prestige and television ratings, with the Grammys nominally rewarding quality and both the AMAs and Billboard Music Awards rewarding popularity. S See Less