YouTube has announced the nominees for its first-ever music awards show, presenting voters with a mix of artists – around 30 in all – from across the fame spectrum.
The event takes place at Manhattan’s Pier 36 on November 3, with YouTube hoping to boost traffic to its site in the intervening days by encouraging fans to visit the show’s microsite to vote for their top acts across six categories.
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They include best video (Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Psy, Epic Rap Battles of History – Barack Obama vs Mitt Romney among the nominees), best artist (Eminem, Katy Perry, Psy again….), response of the year (unofficial fan videos honoring the best fan remix, parody, or response video), YouTube phenomenon (“recognizing the YouTube trends the world could not escape from” – of course, Psy is among the nominees here), YouTube breakthrough (nominees includes artists who experienced the biggest growth in views and subscribers, and include Kendrick Lamar, Passenger and Rudimental, among others), and innovation of the year (creative video innovations selected by an international panel comprising musicians, YouTubers and creative luminaries).
According to a post on the YouTube blog, the nominees, which include some acts that made their name on the Google-owned site, were arrived at through user views, likes, comments, and subscriptions from the last 12 months.
To check out the full list of nominees and cast your vote, head over to the YouTube Music Awards section of the streaming video site here. The winners will be chosen based on shares across Google+, Twitter, and Facebook, although the stats will be hidden from view until the winning acts are announced at the show in a couple of weeks time.
In the run up to the main event, contributions from other artists in Moscow, London, Rio, Tokyo, and Seoul will be live streamed to viewers around the world.
The show will be hosted by actor Jason Schwartzman and comedian and musician Reggie Watts. Lady Gaga, Eminem, Arcade Fire, Lindsey Stirling, and CDZA will take to the stage alongside other acts including Avicii, M.I.A., Earl Sweatshirt, Tyler the Creator, and Walk Off The Earth.
