LOS ANGELES • K-pop fans are furious after boy band juggernaut BTS were snubbed by the MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) organisers.

The seven-member group, which have led a K-pop invasion of the United States and scored three No. 1 albums on the Billboard chart in the past year, got four nods on Tuesday, but none in the major categories.

Fans were also upset that a separate K-pop category had been introduced, with the move seen as "protecting" Western artists and already spawning hashtags such as #VMAsRacist, @VMAsXenophobic and #VMAsAreOverParty.

Nominees in the K-pop field are BTS, Blackpink, Monsta X, NCT 127, EXO and Tomorrow X Together.

"BTS outsold every single artist, in the artist of the year category, but the VMAs didn't want to see that so they made a whole new category just to not acknowledge the power and influence BTS has had over the whole industry," tweeted a fan called Chioma.

"I am getting so sick of the Westerners not giving BTS due respect. They ignore statistics, facts, achievements, charts and the people as well," a user called Shivani Shintre posted on Twitter.

On Tuesday, it was Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande who dominated nominations with 10 apiece.

Grande's break-up anthem (thank u, next) and Swift's You Need To Calm Down, in which she criticises social media trolls, will contend for the top prizes of song of the year, best pop and video of the year. Grande also got a nod for artist of the year along with rapper Cardi B, 17-year-old newcomer Billie Eilish, Halsey, Jonas Brothers and Shawn Mendes.

Fans vote on the winners of the VMAs, which will be announced at a show in Newark, New Jersey, on Aug 26.

REUTERS