YouTube Music Awards are back for an encore

To celebrate creativity and innovation in music on YouTube, we’re once again hosting the YouTube Music Awards, in partnership with Kia Motors and executive producer VICE Media - but in a very different way.

This March, YouTube will celebrate and award the artists to watch in 2015 as determined by our fans. For one special day, music will be the headline act on YouTube. We’ll take this moment to celebrate the biggest and emerging artists through new and unique music video collaborations with top directors and creators. And fans will be involved in every step along the way, guiding and creating these videos.

The YouTube Music Awards are our latest initiative in making YouTube the best place for artists and fans to connect. People have turned YouTube into the biggest music service in the world, thanks to music videos, remixes, covers and so much more across every genre imaginable. The Awards come on the heels of our new music experience including YouTube Music Key beta that gives fans more ways to enjoy music, while also giving artists more ways to be discovered and earn more revenue.

The 2013 YouTube Music Awards was one of the most watched music awards events ever with more than 54 million total views and counting, and we can’t wait to make this next event even bigger.

To kick off the celebration now, we have big stars and emerging musicians releasing new videos, all of which you can find at our new channel youtube.com/musicawards. Over the next week, you’ll see new videos from GD X TAEYANG and Megan Nicole, in conjunction with some of the biggest names in music video filmmaking like Colin Tilley. You can stay tuned by subscribing to youtube.com/musicawards, where we’ll have some surprises this December, and much more news to announce in January.

The YouTube Music Awards team recently watched “GD X TAEYANG - Good Boy (YouTube Music Awards).”

Music on YouTube that hits the right note

You didn’t just watch "All About That Bass" 200+ million times on YouTube. You watched Meghan Trainor perform it live for the first time ever and later with Jimmy Fallon and The Roots. You used the song in tens of thousands of your videos, like covering it with an upright bass. Your views helped put the song at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for weeks. And that’s all just for one song.

You've watched, shared, remixed, invented, parodied and whatevered your favorite songs, making YouTube the ultimate place for artists and fans to connect. To celebrate all that music and unlock new ways to enjoy, we’re making it easier to find new music on YouTube and rock out to old favorites. Plus, we’re starting the launch of a new subscription service that lets you watch and listen to music without ads, in the background or offline.

A new home just for music

Starting today, you’ll see a new home just for music on your YouTube app for Android, iOS and on YouTube.com that shows your favorite music videos, recommended music playlists based on what you’re into and playlists of trending music across YouTube. You can find a playlist to perfectly fit your mood, whether that’s a morning motivators playlist or Boyce Avenue YouTube Mix. Check out the newest songs from channels you subscribe to, like FKA twigs or Childish Gambino. Or quickly find the songs you’ve played over and over and over again.

Full albums in high quality audio that are easy on your bandwidth

If a song exists in this world, you can probably find it on YouTube. But until today you couldn’t easily find and play full albums. In the coming days, you'll be able to see an artist’s discography on YouTube, and play a full album with both their official music videos and high-quality songs our music partners added to YouTube.

Introducing YouTube Music Key beta

You’ve asked us for ways to listen to music without ads, to keep playing music videos even if you lock the screen or start using another app, and to play music even if you’re not connected to the Internet. That’s why today we're introducing YouTube Music Key beta, a monthly subscription service starting with the promotional price of $7.99/month (discounted from $9.99/month) that will give you all that—ads-free music, background play and offline viewing. It will also include a subscription to Google Play Music, with 30+ million songs, expert-curated playlists, and in the coming days, the ability to watch many YouTube official music videos right from the app. And if you're already a Google Play Music subscriber, you'll also get access to YouTube Music Key beta.

Thanks to your music videos, remixes, covers, and more, you’ve made YouTube the biggest music service on the planet. To turn YouTube into your perfect music service, we’re launching YouTube Music Key as a beta with our biggest music fans first, and then we’ll bring YouTube Music Key to the whole world together. So, if you see an invite in your app or email, try it out for six months for free.


If you’re interested in getting more info on the beta, you can let us know at youtube.com/musickey.

The YouTube Music team recently watched “Michael Jackson - Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' - YouTube Mix.”

SiriusXM and YouTube up the tempo with the YouTube EDM 15

Since we launched The YouTube 15 on SiriusXM’s Hits 1 radio with host Jenna Marbles, millions of you have tuned in to hear your favorite established artists like Ariana Grande and new stars like George Ezra. The YouTube 15 even brought Jimmy Fallon and will.i.am’s Ew! to the radio (which eventually hit the Billboard Hot 100).

Now we’re picking up the tempo with our second show powered by your YouTube views and programmed by SiriusXM: the YouTube EDM 15 on BPM, SiriusXM’s dance and remix channel.

This weekly show will highlight breakout electronic dance tracks and remixes from emerging DJs and artists around the world, and it’ll all kick off on Friday, November 21. Rising EDM DJ duo The Chainsmokers will host the show, with other notable guest DJs dropping in during the weeks to come.

The YouTube EDM 15 will air each week Fridays at 5 p.m. PT and again Saturday at 9 a.m. PT, Sunday at 5 a.m. PT, Monday at 7 p.m. PT, and Tuesday at 9 a.m. PT on SiriusXM’s BPM/channel 51, the SiriusXM app or online at siriusxm.com.

Michael Kauffman, YouTube Creator Marketing, recently watched “Victory.”