Elmont, N.Y.—For this year’s MTV Video Music Awards, broadcast on CBS and streamed on Paramount+, Firehouse Productions provided the event’s equipment, including Shure wireless audio technology.
The audio production team comprised audio coordinator Mark Dittmar, broadcast production mixer Sean Prickett, music mixers Eric Schilling and John Harris, RF coordinator Cameron Stuckey, FOH mixers Dan Gerhard, Adam Armstrong, Simon Welch and Mike Bové, and monitor mixers Chris Prinzivalli, Brett Taylor and Tom Pesa.
The team deployed 56 channels of the Shure Axient digital wireless microphone system and 52 channels of the Shure PSM 1000 in-ear personal monitoring system, including 110 P10R receivers.
Mixer Harris commented, “Even with the huge differences in artists and their performances, the Axient Digital system, coupled with ultra-reliable Shure capsules, made every vocal performance predictable and rock solid. From Busta Rhymes’ hip-hop to Alex Warren’s massive pop vocals, and from reggaeton with J Balvin to country rock with Bailey Zimmerman, I always had the control and sound that I needed.”
Shure microphone capsules graced the stage with a myriad of the award show’s performers, including Doja Cat on a Beta 54 headset mic, and Alex Warren, Sombr, Bailey Zimmerman, and Busta Rhymes on SM58 capsules. Notably, J Balvin and Mariah Carey, recipient of the 2025 Video Vanguard award, both sang into new Nexadyne 8 vocal microphone capsules, with Mariah’s mic featuring a custom gold Shure Axient Digital handheld transmitter. Lady Gaga, Artist of the Year winner, shared a pre-recorded performance where she was singing into the new Shure SM39 headset microphone.
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“For the MTV VMAs we debuted the Shure Nexadyne capsule with J Balvin, and it was a game-changer. Right out of the box, the capsule delivered a crystal-clear vocal that sat perfectly in the mix, we barely touched the EQ on his channel strip. Huge clarity, great rejection, and broadcast-ready tone without extra work,” remarked monitor and broadcast engineer Hugo Pinzon, who has extensive experience collaborating with J Balvin.
Each of these artists, in addition to Lola Young, Tate McRae, Sabrina Carpenter, and Conan Gray, relied on Shure Axient Digital wireless handheld transmitters.
