On Monday (Oct. 21), YouTube announced the nominations for its inaugural Music Awards, which will be directed by Spike Jonez and webcast live from New York City’s Pier 36 on Nov. 3.
The nominations cover a variety of artists, including Country darling Taylor Swift, who received a nomination for Artist of the Year. Her song “I Knew You Were Trouble” garnered a nomination in the YouTube Phenomenon category. Actor Jason Schwartzman will host the awards show, which will feature performances by Eminem, Lady Gaga, Arcade Fire, M.I.A. and Avicii, among others.
The video site asked viewers to vote on nominations, which include six categories: Video of the Year, Artist of the Year, Response of the Year, YouTube Phenomenon, YouTube Breakthrough and Innovation of the Year.
View all of the nominations below.
Video of the Year: Nominees represent the videos with the most fan engagement on YouTube over the last year.
- Epic Rap Battles Of History — “Barack Obama vs Mitt Romney”
- Demi Lovato — “Heart Attack”
- Girls’ Generation – “I Got A Boy”
- Justin Bieber (feat. Nicki Minaj) — “Beauty And A Beat”
- Lady Gaga – “Applause”
- Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (feat. Mary Lambert) — “Same Love”
- Miley Cyrus — “We Can’t Stop”
- One Direction – “Best Song Ever”
- PSY – “Gentleman”
- Selena Gomez – “Come & Get It”
Artist of the Year: Focused on acts YouTube fans have made stars, nominees represent the most watched, shared, liked, and subscribed to artists.
- Eminem
- Epic Rap Battles
- Justin Bieber
- Katy Perry
- Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
- Nicki Minaj
- One Direction
- PSY
- Rihanna
- Taylor Swift
Response of the Year: Best fan remix, parody or response video, these nominees represent the top “unofficial” fan videos on YouTube based on views, shares and other social activity.
- Boyce Avenue (feat. Fifth Harmony) – “Mirrors
- Jayesslee – “Gangnam Style”
- Lindsey Stirling and Pentatonix – “Radioactive”
- ThePianoGuys – “Titanium / Pavane”
- Walk Off the Earth (feat. KRNFX) — “I Knew You Were Trouble”
YouTube Phenomenon: Nominees are based on the phenomena that generated the most fan videos.
- Diamonds
- Gangnam Style
- Harlem Shake
- I Knew You Were Trouble
- Thrift Shop
YouTube Breakthrough: Focusing on breakout new acts, nominees represent the artists who experienced the biggest growth in views and subscribers.
- Kendrick Lamar
- Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
- Naughty Boy
- Passenger
- Rudimental
Innovation of the Year: Most creative and innovative music videos on YouTube.
- Anamanaguchi – “ENDLESS FANTASY”
- Atoms For Peace – “Ingenue”
- Bat For Lashes – “Lilies”
- DeStorm – “See Me Standing”
- Toro Y Moi — “Say That”
About the Author
Michael Smith is the Operations Manager at MusicRow Enterprises, where he works in the sales and editorial departments, and manages MusicRow's CountryBreakout Chart. He holds a BA from Vanderbilt University. Please send feedback to msmith@musicrow.comView Author Profile
