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Appearances at award shows, magazine cover shoots and music video performances are pulling livestreaming into the mainstream. But who’s leading the charge and what is holding them back?

Number 1 Streamer in the world, KaiCenat is known for his big name collaborations. With Kevin Hart, Nicki Minaj, Ice Spice and many more joining him on stream in the last year.

However, these collaborations have always been that way round, celebrities come to him and they produce livestream content. That is, until the 2025 AMAs, when not only was Kai invited to attend, but was also tasked with handing out the award for Favourite Female R&B Artist.

SZA, who won, gave a shout out to Kai’s currently running series Streamer University, saying: “Congrats to Kai! So Proud of you! Sorry, I just be happy for my friends.”

Kai wasn’t the only streamer getting love at the AMAs. Creator of The Streamer Awards and baking live streamer QTCinderella was also given presenting duties, as co-host of Billboard’s red carpet coverage.

In another leap for livestream creators, Cosmopolitan released that former Streamer of the Year Valkyrae would be the cover of their Philippines issue.

Over the years, streaming has struggled for legitimacy amongst mainstream entertainment. Often reduced to ‘background noise’ entertainment, streams were once known for their amateur production quality and lack of structure which made for very casual viewing. However, these qualities also made the format very accessible for people to get into. Anyone with a computer and a webcam can broadcast and gain a following providing they’re entertaining.

The loose nature of streaming is not without its drawbacks, with many streamers banned by Twitch and YouTube every month for various controversies. These incidents are off putting for advertisers and potential collaborators, who see such association as a potential brand risk.

This was a lesson learned the hard way for rapper bbno$, who included a number of streamers in his new music video for mary poppins but chose to cover the face of Asmongold, a popular streamer who’s controversial comments about Palestine earned him a two week ban on Twitch.

The music video has been a great opportunity for creators to showcase their talents outside of the standard livestream format, with creators such as Will Neff long expressing a desire to break into acting for film and TV.

While seeing KaiCenat stream with big name celebs, QTCinderella’s professional Streamer Awards and music video appearances have done a lot to legitimise streamers for mainstream audiences, acceptance by traditional media is still reserved for the few who keep their content clean enough for brands to work with.

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