Calling All Music Fans: YouTube Music Award Voting Opens Today

What do waking up, paper planes, hives, goblins, and five people on one guitar have in common? On November 3, Avicii, M.I.A., Earl Sweatshirt, Tyler the Creator, and Walk Off the Earth will all perform live at the first-ever YouTube Music Awards, joining a top musical lineup at Pier 36 in New York City. Actor and musician Jason Schwartzman is joined by comedian and musician Reggie Watts to host this live event. Music video visionary Spike Jonze is creative director, with executive producers VICE Media and Sunset Lane Entertainment.

And now it’s your turn. YouTube Award Nominations across six categories have just been announced at youtube.com/musicawards. Starting today, you can go there or search “YTMA” on YouTube to vote on the nominees by sharing the official YouTube Music Awards nomination videos across Google+, Twitter and Facebook. These video and artist nominations are based on YOUR views, likes, comments and subscriptions over the last 12 months from September 2012, and your votes from today will determine the winners.

The six nomination categories and nominees for this year’s YouTube Music Awards are:

Video of the Year: Honoring the world’s most loved music videos, these nominees represent the videos with the most fan engagement on YouTube over the last year.


  • Demi Lovato - Heart Attack
  • Epic Rap Battles of History - Barack Obama vs Mitt Romney
  • 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: Honoring the acts YouTube fans have made stars, nominees represent the most watched, shared, liked, and subscribed-to artists on YouTube.

  • Eminem
  • Epic Rap Battles of History
  • Justin Bieber
  • Katy Perry
  • Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
  • Nicki Minaj
  • One Direction
  • PSY
  • Rihanna
  • Taylor Swift


Response of the Year: Honoring the best fan remix, parody or response video, these nominees represent the top “unofficial” fan videos on YouTube based on your views, shares and other 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: Recognizing the YouTube trends the world could not escape from, 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: Honoring the music world’s 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: Starting with videos selected by an international panel of musicians, YouTubers and creative luminaries, we then selected the creative video innovations that resonated most with fans on YouTube, based on views, likes, shares and comments.

  • Anamanaguchi - ENDLESS FANTASY
  • Atoms For Peace - Ingenue
  • Bat For Lashes - Lilies
  • DeStorm - See Me Standing
  • Toro Y Moi "Say That"


In the run up to the YouTube Music Awards, five music events will be streamed from around the world on YouTube, culminating in the live awards celebration at Pier 36 in New York City. The shows from Seoul, Tokyo, Moscow, London and Rio will kick off at 5 a.m. ET on November 3, and fans can tune in at youtube.com/musicawards.

So what are you waiting for? Head over to youtube.com/musicawards to watch the nomination videos and cast your votes. Stay tuned for more information on the big show and we’ll see you on Sunday, November 3!

The YouTube Music Awards Team recently watched “Announcing the first-ever YouTube Music Awards.”

Like Eminem, Lady Gaga, and Arcade Fire? Announcing the first-ever YouTube Music Awards

We get it. You love music. From propelling unknown artists to the top of the charts, to cheering on established artists as they reinvent the music video, to remixing and reimagining your own, music fans have turned YouTube into the world’s go-to music destination. Now, to celebrate music fans and the music you love, we’re announcing a new kind of awards show--one powered by you.

On Sunday, November 3, YouTube will host the first-ever YouTube Music Awards, a live-streamed event honoring the artists and songs that you have turned into hits over the past year. Lady Gaga, Eminem, and Arcade Fire will join other top artists and some of YouTube’s biggest stars including Lindsey Stirling and CDZA in performances and musical collaborations from Seoul, Moscow, London and Rio, culminating in a live event in New York City. Music-video visionary Spike Jonze will be the creative director and acclaimed actor Jason Schwartzman will host with VICE and Sunset Lane Entertainment acting as executive producers.



And we’ll need your help. In mid-October, YouTube Music Awards Nominations will be announced based on the videos that you watched and shared over the past year. We’ll then call on you to determine the songs and artists honored, by sharing the nominees across social media so the awards are judged in full view of everyone.

There will be a whole lot more music to enjoy on YouTube around the Music Awards. In the days leading up to the November 3 event, nominees will share official music videos, covers, parodies, concerts, interviews and fan videos on YouTube--so you can stay in the loop, find your faves and discover new music you didn’t even know you loved! Stay tuned for lots more info, and get ready for a nonstop week of music on YouTube.

Danielle Tiedt, Vice President, Marketing, recently watched "Lady Gaga - Applause (Official)," "Eminem - Berzerk (Official) (Explicit)," and "Arcade Fire- Here Comes the Night Time."