Last week, Spotify sent out out a release with their predictions for the 2015 VMAs — and, well, they failed miserably, choosing just one out of eight categories correctly. What’s more is that we didn’t really need to wait for the VMAs to have known the streaming app’s predictions were way off base.
Consider that Spotify picked its winners based on which artists and songs have been most played by the app’s 75 million listeners. That would seem to make sense, since the show’s non-professional categories are awarded according popular vote from fans. The problem is the fact that Taylor Swift was nominated for four of the major awards, and she’d pulled her music from Spotify’s catalog in November 2014. That means 75 million Spotify users aren’t listening to the fastest-selling album of the last decade, and one of the inherently most popular artists. And, at that point, why even use their data to attempt to predict the outcome of the VMAs?
Here are Spotify’s predictions and the actual winners of the 2015 VMAs:
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Spotify’s pick: Ed Sheeran – “Thinking Out Loud”
VMA Winner: Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar – “Bad Blood”
BEST MALE VIDEO
Spotify’s pick: The Weeknd – “Earned It”
VMA Winner: Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars – “Uptown Funk”
BEST FEMALE VIDEO
Spotify’s pick: Sia – “Elastic Heart”
VMA Winner: Taylor Swift – “Blank Space”
BEST HIP-HOP VIDEO
Spotify’s pick: Fetty Wap – “Trap Queen”
VMA Winner: Nicki Minaj – “Anaconda”
BEST POP VIDEO
Spotify’s pick: Ed Sheeran – “Thinking Out Loud”
VMA Winner: Taylor Swift – “Blank Space”
BEST ROCK VIDEO
Spotify’s pick: Walk the Moon – “Shut Up and Dance”
VMA Winner: Fall Out Boy – “Uma Thurman”
BEST COLLABORATION
Spotify’s pick: Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth – “See You Again”
VMA Winner: Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar – “Bad Blood”
ARTIST TO WATCH
Spotify’s pick: Fetty Wap
VMA Winner: Fetty Wap
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