Since MTV no longer actually plays any music, and the Grammy’s are old and stuffy, will we finally have a music awards show with some credibility for millennials?
Yesterday, YouTube announced plans to host its first ever music awards show, which will honor all levels of artists, from superstars to YouTube stars. The awards will be held Nov. 3 in New York and will host some big name performances including Lady Gaga, Eminem and Arcade Fire. It’ll also include performances streamed from other cities including Seoul, Moscow, London and Rio as YouTube drives home its global influence.
Actor Jason Schwartzmann is slated to host the show, with acclaimed music video director Spike Jonze as its creative director. VICE and Sunset Lane Entertainment will serve as executive producers. Check out Schwartzmann’s promo for the show in this video clip:
Nominations for the awards will start rolling out in mid-October, and they will be based on the most watched and shared videos over the past year. YouTube will then share the nominations across social media and decide the awards based on fan feedback. (Hopefully there’ll be a way to measure quality of content and not just its virality.)
YouTube is also lining up plenty of extra content to generate buzz for the event. From the announcement:
“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.”
The only question remains, what will the awards be called, and what will they look like? The Youbies? The Tubies? As for what they’ll look like, my best bet is some variation of YouTube’s “play” icon. Stay tuned for more news from the event.
