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Performers Lady Gaga and Eminem will be among the star attractions of YouTube’s first-ever live-streamed, online YouTube Music Awards show when it is broadcast on Nov. 3.
The event, which will tally viewers’ votes for their favorite performers to determine the award winners, was announced by Danielle Tiedt, vice president of marketing for Google’s YouTube unit, in a Sept. 30 post on the YouTube Official Blog.
“We get it. You love music,” wrote Tiedt. “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.”
The awards show will honor the artists and songs that dedicated YouTube viewers and fans have turned into hits over the past year, wrote Tiedt. “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.”
Music fans will be able to get into the action by casting their votes for their favorite performances and videos starting later this month, wrote Tiedt. “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.”
As the nominees are named, they will share official music videos, covers, parodies, concerts, interviews and fan videos on YouTube, according to Tiedt.
YouTube often gets involved in cultural events to bring together fans of music, fashion, culture and more.
In September, YouTube streamed live online coverage of the 2013 Mercedes Benz Fashion Week events in New York City, bringing the latest fashions and trends to the world. Included in the YouTube coverage were more than 60 live shows from BCBG, Rachel Zoe, Betsey Johnson, Jenny Packham and more on the IMG Fashion YouTube channel, as well as stylish channel live stream shows on getting made up to the hilt with expert help from fashion and make-up experts such as Louise Goldin and Jeremy Scott.
Earlier in August, YouTube celebrated the special geekiness of geeks with its first-ever “Geek Week” event that highlighted geek content, including “Game of Thrones,” “The Big Bang Theory,” Harry Potter and The Avengers. The Geek Week celebration highlighted the global community on YouTube that loves superheroes, comics, gaming, science and sci-fi.
In May 2013, YouTube turned eight years old, having launched in May 2005 as a video-sharing Website where people could post their creative works and watch to see if they gained any footholds. YouTube’s popularity has been huge, with the site receiving more than 100 hours of uploaded video from creators each minute. All of that video content is being created by millions of partners and contributors, some of whom have become very popular through the growing site.
Also in May, YouTube announced a new pilot program through which viewers are able to buy premium video content for fees starting at 99 cents per month to reward video creators for their labors while encouraging the development of better video for the huge online audience. Some of the paid content at the start of the pilot included “Sesame Street,” as well as “Ultimate Fighting Championship” (UFC), which offers classic fights such as a full version of their first event from UFC’s new channel.
In March 2013, YouTube announced that it has grown to providing video content for more than 1 billion viewers per month. The popular video-sharing site has helped launch the careers of a slew of entertainers and made celebrities out of ordinary citizens, thanks to viral videos.