Lady Gaga, Eminem to Headline YouTube’s First Ever Music Awards

Spike Jonze will be creative director and Jason Schwartzman will host the video giant’s debut show

YouTube will host the first awards show in its history, celebrating the songs, artists and videos that were most popular on its own site in the last year, the online video giant announced Monday.

The YouTube Music Awards, slated Nov. 3 in New York City, will be the second live event YouTube has hosted in its history after a comedy show earlier this year. It is the first that takes direct aim at the entertainment business’ lucrative industry of self-congratulation.

The show will have a Hollywood feel with filmmaker Spike Jonze playing creative director and Jason Schwartzman as host, but its goal is to celebrate the influence of YouTube’s users, of which there are more than one billion across the globe.

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YouTube will try to reflect its global audience by taping performances in Seoul, Brazil, Moscow and London that will air on YouTube before the live show streams worldwide.

Lady Gaga, Eminem and Arcade Fire will all perform at the live event, as well as some of YouTube’s biggest stars like Lindsay Stirling and CZDA. YouTube will announce additional performers in the coming weeks, including those that will perform for the pre-taped segments.

“From catalyzing careers and pop culture phenomena to propelling a song’s rise to #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100, our global community’s influence is felt across the music industry,” Danielle Tiedt, YouTube’s vice president of marketing, said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to celebrate our fans and the music they love with a whole new kind of awards show –  the first-ever YouTube Music Awards – judged by you.”

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All nominations will be based on data and announced Oct. 17. Users will then vote online by liking or sharing videos, but YouTube will not reveal which videos are in the lead.

“We’re setting out to create a night that’s all about making things and creativity in the spirit of everyone that uses YouTube,” Jonze said in a statement. “We’ll be giving out awards to inventive and inspiring people, who YouTube users have celebrated for making things this year, as well as making live music videos. The whole night should feel like a YouTube video itself.”

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