VMAs producers on Taylor Swift’s album announcement: That wasn’t planned

The 2022 MTV VMAs had its highlights, but perhaps the standout moment arrived when American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift announced her forthcoming album Midnights while accepting her historic third Video of the Year award. 

Billboard reported Bruce Gillmer and Jesse Ignjatovic saying that all “stars aligned” during the show, leading to a boost in ratings. 

Gilmer placed part of the credit at Swift’s doorstep saying that the 32-year-old wanted to come and hadn’t been seen for months on end. 

“Her fans are so intense that just her appearing gives our show a lift. Not only did she appear, she won and she won big. She also chose our stage to announce her new record, which gave us this massive lift coming out of the show”, Gilmer said, adding that Swift shared a “long history together” with the award ceremony and it was a highly successful history, filled with mutual “love and respect”. 

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Addressing the album reveal, he said “That wasn’t planned. We were blessed to have that.” 

Swift got up on stage to thank the award ceremony for being kind to her and said that she’d decided to return the favour, before announcing “I thought it might be a fun moment to tell you that my brand-new album comes out Oct. 21”. Before getting off the stage, Swift added “I will tell you more at midnight”. Later, the singer made a more formal announcement on social media, which included the site link to preorder the forthcoming Midnights – as well as an idea of what the album will be about. 

Initial Nielsen ratings show that viewership has risen when compared to last year. In 2021, 3.7 million people tuned in to watch the MTV VMAs, and the number rose to 3.9 million in 2022, indicating a 3% increase. 

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Fergie’s surprise appearance alongside Jack Harlow, during the opening performance also helped boost numbers, the producers noted.